Broken
by Liv-FanficLover
Summary: Claire Pelatiah, a Jedi, is partnered with her rival, and the two are forced to join forces to stop an onslaught of aliens and droids. Surprisingly, the two Jedi's strike up an unusual relationship, which could be the downfall of their careers- or lives.
1. Chapter 1

**{Broken}**

_A Star Wars Fanfic_

**By: Liv**

(Credit: Given to the makers of the Star Wars series. All characters (excluding mine) and settings are all theirs. I take no credit.)

{Chapter 1: Prologue

**Coruscant**

The early morning glow dimly spread across the horizon, streaking through the building and glimmering off the metal hulls of the vehicles speeding through the air. Rain was falling in thin, diagonal, cold sheets, bouncing lightly off buildings and unfortunate people alike.

Claire Pelatiah was one of those unfortunate people, since the rain was lightly pelting her, running through her dark hair and streaking down her thick leather boots. But she seemed to be ignoring the rain that was splashing all around her. She was loading her last suitcase on the silver flier, which was parked on the edge of a departure platform. Claire slid the final suitcase into the back of her flier, and then she closed the hatch and pushed into the lock. She sighed inwardly, seeing the reflection of the city in the shiny hull. Claire turned away and stared out across the platform through the thin sheets of rain. At the opposite end of the platform stood a man that Claire half-way expected not to be there. He was standing in the rain, seemingly unaware of its cold presence. He stood in his usual attire, and in his usual position— thick, light brown boots, and cream coloured Jedi garb, with his arms tucked inside a long brown cloak that was draped over his shoulders. His light brown hair was matted down by the rain, but he didn't seem to notice. He was watching Claire.

Claire ignored the pangs of guilt and remorse, and even that bit of annoyance that she always seemed to feel toward him. Though, she began to let the annoyance fill her— maybe it would help her leave this place easier. Claire stared at the man, who stared back. She waited, unsure of what the man wanted. But, she figured it out soon enough when the man pulled out of his long brown cloak a dark object; a material of sorts. It was then that Claire realized, and looked down at herself, that she was in fact missing her own cloak. With another inward sigh, Claire strode out across the wet platform, her boots deflecting the rain. Now she could feel the rain seeping in through her own deep brown, almost black, Jedi garb. Claire met the man at the edge of the platform and he extended his arm and the cloak toward her with a very small smiled. Claire felt herself smile involuntarily back at him. It couldn't be helped— he seemed to have the effect on her. Claire accepted her cloak.

"Thank you…" she murmured, ad she slowly slipped the black cloak over her shoulders. From the inside of the cloak she pulled out a long silver and black cylinder-shaped object, and tucked it into a loop on her belt that was attached to her black corset that she wore over her Jedi apparel. Claire's eyes met the man's finally. He was silent, yet he seemed to be saying everything.

"This is good-bye then," the man finally spoke. For a moment Claire was unsure of how to reply.

"…They need me," she finally said quietly, "the governor of Xenus 4… you know how they get." They man nodded. Claire had had this discussion about fifteen times with this man. They were silent a few moments before the man asked the next fatal, dreadful questions.

"Will I ever see you again?"

Claire felt a strong, sudden pain in her chest as she pondered his questions. She knew he would ask, yet she had no idea how to respond. She looked into the man's deep blue eyes, which were questioning and patient, and Claire's own sharp green ones were filled with such agony that she was sure he could see. Claire brought herself to speak at last to answer him.

"Obi-Wan…" yet she choked on his name. She couldn't say it. She couldn't say good-bye. Obi-Wan seemed to let out a sigh, which increased the horrible pain in Claire's heart. Of course he didn't want to let her go. Right?

"You need to do what you feel is right, Claire," said Obi-Wan quietly, his voice floating through the rain that was still falling.

"Then I must go," Claire responded, testing him. She would see how he would respond.

"Then may for the force be with you, Miss Pelatiah," Obi-Wan replied. It was suddenly as though a thousand icicles were plunged into Claire's body. Claire successfully hid her shock and deepening pain from the Jedi. _So this is it,_ Claire thought, _this is how we end. He won't even fight._ It was then that Claire forced an iron wall around her heart. She wouldn't let her feelings keep her any longer.

"May the force be with you Master Kenobi," Claire spoke at last, her voice completely calm and seemingly unregretful. With that as her final farewell, Claire turned away through the rain, facing her flier. She almost expected the Jedi to stop her. But Claire walked back to her flier without a moment's hesitation from either herself or Obi-Wan. She did, however, let a lonely tear roll down her already rain-streaked face. _If only he'd just ask me…_

Obi-Wan watched as Claire Pelatiah walked back to her flier without looking back. She was leaving. She wanted to. And he couldn't stop her. Well he could, but she seemed to not want to stay. Not even for him. She would've stayed, if she wanted to. She was stubborn and strong-willed— something that Obi-Wan particularly liked about her, even though he hated it at first. _If only she'd just ask,_ Obi-Wan thought in the back of his mind, _I would let her stay…_ Obi-Wan watched as Claire stepped up to her flier, opening the hatch. Claire turned her head just slightly, as if looking at him one last time, through the corner of her eye. But she turned away. Suddenly a tear welled up in his eye as Obi-Wan watched Claire step onto the flier, and the hatch closed behind her. Obi-Wan abruptly felt the irrational need to run after her, force open the flier, and pull her back to Coruscant. Back to him. But the engine of the flier roared to life, and Obi-Wan knew it was too late. _But maybe it's for the best of things, _he thought solemnly, as the flier lifted off the departure platform. Love is forbidden for Jedi's, after all.


	2. Chapter 2

**{Chapter 2: The Mission**

**2 Years Earlier**

**Jo'ron**

Claire Pelatiah held her light saber in both hands, gripping it tightly. The dimness of the room seemed to thicken around her, but it didn't bother her because her eyes were tightly closed. Floating, suspended, in front of Claire's unseeing face was a small round object. It was moving back and forth, twisting every now and then, circling as if watching Claire. Wherever it went, Claire moved her body and followed it blindly. The glow of the light saber reflected a blue tint on Claire's face, eerily masking her. And then the little object shot out a thin beam of light. In a swift motion, Claire swung the saber up, blocking the beam as if she could see it clearly. The beam disintegrated against the light saber. Claire ignored her victory as usual and stayed focus, expanding her mind to keep her senses on the little object in front of her. After a few moments the object shot out another beam of light, and once again Claire brought up her light saber and blocked the beam easily and effectively. Quicker than the last time, the object recovered and hesitated just before shooting out another beam. This time however, Claire brought her saber around even before the object shot out its beam. Deflecting it once more, Claire began to stance herself against her opponent. But, suddenly she stopped. Slowly she opened her eyes, and the dimness of the room caused her sharp green eyes to dilate automatically. Only a second later did the door to the small round room open. A tall man stood there, and Claire gracefully swung her saber around and closed it up, the beam drawing itself in. Wordlessly Claire reached out and gently touched the little round object that was still circling her. At command, the object abruptly disappeared into thin air, and the room slowly brightened. Claire looked up at the man in the doorway silently. He looked amused.

"Very good, Pelatiah," he said with a cat-like purr to his voice. Claire bowed slightly in respect.

"Thank you Master Faleur," she said as she straightened. Master Faleur looked at Claire with a peculiar expression.

"There is a meeting in the Hall," he said, nodding out the door, "they are requesting you." Claire attempted to keep a straight face, but she faltered.

"But, I'm not," she started, but Faleur held up a hand.

"They inquire of you," he said. Claire flushed barely.

"Of course," she mumbled, and she gently tucked her light saber away it's holder before she strode out of the room behind Master Faleur.

The two Jedi's were silent at first as they strode down the corridor toward the Hall. Faleur obviously noticed Claire's confused and nervous look.

"Relax Claire," he said gently, glancing back at her, "it's nothing really. They have a request for you is all." Claire loosened up a bit. So they weren't going to inquire of her Jedi status.

"You do know how to make things better, Mercado," she said, smiling barely. Mercado smiled just slightly as well, realizing that Claire was in fact stressing over what the counsel inquired of her. Naturally, he knew she would.

Soon the two Jedi's arrived at the Hall of the Jedi, and Claire stopped just before entering. Mercado entered ahead of her out of respect, and Claire took a deep breath, and straightened her apparel. And then she stepped in.

The room was round and brightly lit, with seven chairs lined up against the wall. Seven people sat in those chairs, facing the entrance with a look of expectancy. Claire quickly took notice of those missing in the room— well, those whose holograms took their places because they weren't currently present, but needed to be there for this particular meeting. Only two were missing. Claire ignored this and strolled humbly to the centre of the room where the cream coloured carpet was darkened to identify the Jedi's standing point to face the counsel. Mercado had taken one of the seven chairs in the room, and he was reclined slightly against it in his usual position. Claire faced the man in the centre of the line of chairs.

"Claire Pelatiah," the man said, regarding Claire in an almost monotonous voice. Claire bowed slightly in respect.

"Master Malek," she said, and she locked her gaze on him strongly, to show that she had no fear. At least not on the outside.

"I hear the counsel inquires of me," she continued, and her gaze raked the rest of the Jedi masters seated around the room. They kept a firm and unwavering gaze back on Claire.

"You have heard correctly Miss Pelatiah," Master Malek said, and he nodded as he answered.

"We have a request of you," he continued. Claire waited expectantly. This could mean anything.

"We know you have wanted to be stationed outside of the perimeters of Jo'ron," said Master Malek, and Claire felt her heart jump. _Xenus 4?_ She thought wildly, _maybe I can finally go?_ Xenus 4 was a far-distanced planet, in a remote solar system consisting of primitive planets. It was the only one out there with a civilized community and the Republic ruling it.

"So we've arranged you passage to one of our planets. The Republic has some work for you, and Jedi's are needed," Malek added. Claire kept her face straight successfully.

"And where will you be sending me?" she questioned respectfully.

"We have a position ready for you at Coruscant," Malek said. Claire blinked in shock. It was all she could do to hold in her emotions.

"C-coruscant?" She asked, though her voice quavered. Malek smiled gently, and barely.

"Yes, Coruscant." Claire pondered this a moment. Coruscant. No, it wasn't Xenus 4. It was the next best thing.

"The… the head of the Jedi Council?" Claire asked, and she could sense her excitement beginning to show.

"Yes, and you're needed," Malek replied. Claire suddenly broke out in a grin.

"Thank you sir, thank you," she said swiftly. She was going to Coruscant.

"When will I need to go?" Claire asked.

"Tomorrow morning you should head out. At hyper speed, you should arrive there quickly," said the Jedi seated to the right of Master Malek. Claire smiled a beautiful and rare smile.

"Thank you Counsel," she said, and she bowed generously. As she straightened to leave, she caught Master Faleur's eye, and he winked. Claire couldn't help but grin back. And with that, she turned and walked out of the bright Hall, with a new spring in her step. Xenus 4 could wait. She was going to _Coruscant_.

Claire walked straight to her room in the Jedi temple of Jo'ron, where she closed the door, and turned around to face her darkened room.

"Lights…" she said quietly, and to her command, the lights around the room flipped on, dousing her in a nice yellow glow. As soon as she felt secure, she lost all her Jedi dignity and suddenly punched the air in triumph with the loud _"yes!"_ feeling like a teenager again. Claire was grinning ear to ear and she walked around her room, grabbing a few items she would need on her trip to Coruscant. She didn't know how long she would be there, but the fact of the matter was that she was going. Claire snatched a suitcase from a closet, stuffing her things in. Yes, she still had since morning, but it made her excited just to think of the prospect of going. But suddenly Claire started as a knock sounded at her door. Claire's head whipped up in quick response, her body tensing. But she eased her tension when the door slid open and Mercado stepped in. Claire bent back down to her suitcase, grinning again.

"Claire, you're not leaving until the morning," Mercado said, eyeing Claire with a look of concern.

"I know," Claire said, placing a couple shirts and a clean Jedi outfit into the suitcase, "I'm just getting ready is all." She straightened once more as Mercado sat down in the nearest chair.

"You're really excited about this, aren't you?" He asked as Claire looked at him. Claire gazed at him, and then turned to the large bright window on the opposite side of the wall. Her face grew serious.

"Yes… I am…" she said softly, her voice trailing.

"I thought you wanted to go to Xenus 4?" Mercado questioned fingering a glass orb on the table ext to him. Claire surprised him with a shrug.

"Xenus 4 is alright… I mean, yeah, most of the Jedi would love to go there to help bring balance to the Force… but Coruscant." She stopped and turned back to Mercado. "Coruscant holds the head of the Jedi Council! This is a once in a life-time thing for me!" Mercado smiled slightly, placing the orb down. He looked at Claire again.

"I'm glad you're happy," he said, and he stood. Claire looked at him, a head taller than she was. And she was fairly tall herself.

"Mercado… do you know how long I'll be there?" she asked. Mercado gazed back without a flicker of emotion or hesitance.

"No… but I do know that they're having some civilian trouble. There are already a few Jedi on the case, but they would like an extra one." Suddenly Mercado smiled. "I put your name in." Claire's eyes widened.

"So it was you!" she gasped.

"Hey, they were already thinking of asking you anyway! I simply, gave them a little push," Mercado replied. Claire stopped, pondering this.

"Thank you then…" She said quietly. Mercado nodded.

"You're welcome Miss Pelatiah." He bowed slightly, and he headed over to the door of her room.

"Wait, Mercado," Claire said, and she walked over to him. Mercado turned to look at Claire with a look of expectancy.

"Did… have they mentioned… my status?" Claire said, fearing the answer. Again, Mercado gave her a look void of emotion. Except for a slight flicker of sadness.

"…No. They are not ready to discuss that yet… I'm hoping that while you're gone, I can talk to them about it. They need to decide soon. I know how much this means to you." Claire nodded, looking down. Mercado bowed himself again, and turned toward the door.

"Oh," he said, turning back once more. Claire looked up again.

"So you're just gonna leave me all by myself?" Mercado asked. Claire's expression dropped. She gently shoved Mercado toward the door.

"You've been to Coruscant," she said roughly, "besides, how many times have you left to go somewhere without me, huh?" Mercado only grinned.

"G'night Claire," he said, and he left her room. Claire put her hands on her hips and shook her head.

"For a Jedi master, he sure is… mad," she muttered to herself. Shaking her head, Claire turned back to her suitcase to finish packing it.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3: Departure**

Claire breathed in deeply the smells of the planet she was about to leave. Jo'ron was a mostly city-filled planet, though nothing compared to Coruscant. But it was her home. For as long as she could remember, she lived on Jo'ron. She grew up there, became a Jedi there. And now she was leaving. But only for a little while, for she was needed on the planet of the head of the Jedi counsel. Claire opened her eyes to look around once more. She was standing on the platform where her flier was parked. It was Claire's own flier, though she only used it a few times because she hardly ever left the planet. After all, only recently did she actually complete her Jedi training. Claire looked around again. A few Jedi were standing off to the side, watching her to see her off. Claire turned back to her flier, sighing. She was just about to jump into it when a voice caught her off guard.

"Claire!" someone called. Claire turned and automatic relief spread over her. Mercado was jogging across the departure platform carrying something. Claire also noticed a small round droid following Mercado closely.

"Master Faleur," Claire said when Mercado reached her, "for a moment I believed that you weren't going to say good-bye."

"You forgot something," he said, and he held out his hand which was holding a piece of luggage.

"Ugh, I would've left without it," Claire mumbled, cursing herself for her stupidity and lack of memory. Mercado handed her the bag and Claire sighed inwardly as she took it and turned back to her flier. She opened the hatch in the back of the flier, stuffed the suitcase in, and closed it again. Mercado was standing with his hands tucked into his cloak, watching Claire.

"I also suggest you take this droid along with you," he said, nodding toward the droid at his feet. Claire looked down at the small orange and white droid. She wasn't accustomed to having a droid following her around and everything.  
"He's a good droid," Mercado said in assurance, "I used him for a while during my training." Claire stepped over to the droid, looking him over. She bent down, searching for identification.

"R7," she said, reading its name. The droid turned its little head and beeped in response. Claire cocked her head to the side, and then straightened.

"Alright, if you think I should," she said, looking down at the droid. Mercado reached down and bumped the droid with the back of his hand.

"In the flier, R7," he said. R7 beeped again in reply, and Claire watched it roll over to the flier, where a mechanical hand came out, grabbed the droid, and then retracted itself and R7 into the left wing of the flier.

"May the Force be with you, Claire," Mercado said softly. Claire looked at him.

"May the Force be with you," she replied. She bowed humbly in respect. When she straightened, Mercado reached out and pulled her closer, embracing her in a hug.

"Really, take care sister," he said. Claire smiled into his shoulder. She loved it when he called her his sister. They really were like siblings to one another, since they practically grew up together.

"And you, my brother," Claire said when they let go. Mercado smiled a rare smile down at Claire, which Claire returned one that was just as rare.

"Have fun at Coruscant," Mercado said, his smiled transforming into a grin.

"Oh yes, definitely," Claire said, and she grinned back. Mercado's grin began to fade.

"Keep safe," he said softly. Claire held back her slight surprise.

"I always do, Master Faleur," she replied, staring him dead in the eye. Mercado stared back, and they stayed this way for the longest time. Claire could see the concern in the Jedi master's eyes, something she hadn't seen in a long time. He really was concerned over her. At last Claire turned away, knowing she needed to leave now. As she faced her flier, Mercado sighed.

"Don't forget to call, two times daily!" he said jokingly as Claire tossed her pack into the open cockpit of the flier. Claire rolled her eyes.

"Good-bye Mercado," she said, with one last look at her Jedi friend. And then she took a graceful leap up a good 6 feet. In a split second she was sliding into the cockpit as if she had just dropped from the sky.

"Show off," Mercado muttered, yet he grinned. Claire saluted as the glass cockpit door closed above her head. Mercado bowed humbly in farewell. And then the sounds of the planet were blocked out as the cockpit closed up. Claire let out a sigh.

"Okay R7, fire up the engine," she said. The little droid made a buzzing sound in response, and the engine roared to life underneath Claire. She smiled. It had been a while since she flew one of these. And when she did, she never went outside the planet's atmosphere, especially by herself. Claire looked down at the control panel, breathing in deeply. She clicked a few buttons, flipped a few switches, and soon the flier was lifting off the ground slowly, and Claire grinned again. She looked back down toward the platform, where Mercado was standing with his arms tucked into his cloak. He looked almost close to tears, if that was possible for a Jedi master like himself.

"Oh come off it Mercado," Claire muttered to herself, rolling her eyes. Yet she felt slightly guilty. Mercado really was worried about her leaving. Whether or not it had to do with the fact that this was the first time she was going on a mission by herself, and he wasn't coming to keep a close brotherly watch on her, she didn't know. So Claire didn't let Mercado's worry be taken for granted.

Claire sighed, and she pulled the flier up into the air, feeling it vibrating smoothly under her. She focused on her flying, still nervous about being back in the air again, and even a little nervous about leaving the planet itself. But she was a Jedi. She couldn't let her slightly timid personality keep her from doing what she was born to do.

"Okay, take us up R7," Claire ordered the droid, and it obeyed perfectly. Claire looked down once more toward the planet, watching at Mercado Faleur became a small dark speck on the ground below. And then the clouds blocked her view. Claire looked back out the cockpit, trying to see through the clouds. That was one dangerous thing about flying in weather like this— you could run into anything. She kept her eyes peeled, until the clouds finally broke and Claire watched at the planet's atmosphere swam behind her and she was engulfed by the deep, cold emptiness of space. When they hit the outer rim in of the atmosphere and the planet was finally beneath them, Claire let out the breath that she had been holding inside. She smiled, seeing the solar system stretching out in front of her. It was then that she really felt at home.

"I'm in space R7…" Claire said. She heard him beeping outside the cockpit, and Claire looked down at the control panel where a little black screen was scrolling red letters across. It was R7 speaking through the computer. Claire grinned as she read his words.

"_It has been a long time since I have been in space with Master Mercado Faleur._"

"He never really told me of his being in space…" Claire replied, thinking about all the times that Mercado had left to go on missions that the Council had assigned to him.

"_There are many stories for him to tell you._" Claire thought about that. When she returned from Coruscant she would ask him about it.

"_The hyper driver is 10 kilometers to the northeast,_" R7 suddenly beeped, and Claire looked out of the cockpit again, looking toward the northeast. There, floating in space was a round object of sorts, with a two small extending arms in the center reaching out toward the center. It was just the right size for her flier.

"Whoa… you mean… I'm actually going to get to get in one of those?" she asked out loud, marveling at the machine.

"_Yes,_" R7 said, "_otherwise it would take fourteen days and eleven hours to reach Coruscant at the highest speed of this flier._" Claire blinked in surprise.

"I guess I will be taking it then," she said, "Okay R7, get this thing on auto pilot." R7 beeped in reply, and it messed with the controls. In a matter of seconds the flier was moving itself without the help of Claire's piloting skills. Claire attempted to relax as she let go of the steering wheel, letting the flier direct itself over to the hyper driver. Claire watched as her flier pulled itself into the hyper driver, clicking itself into the extensions for security.

"Let's get this thing going…" Claire muttered, and she gripped a hold of the steering wheel for safe measure.

"Go R7," she said. And then it broke into hyper drive. The stars stretched into white blurs as the concept of space was seemingly folded under Claire's body, and the flier lurched forward.

Claire wanted, with all her might, to close her eyes against the blinding white light. But it only lasted for a second. Soon the lights were blasted away into darkness, and Claire had the momentary feeling of weightlessness, and then the flier broke out into space once more. But it wasn't really space. It was almost complete darkness. Every now and then the stars appeared, and Claire could even swear that she saw another flier off in the distance, and maybe even a planet. This lasted for several minutes, and Claire watched with rapt attention, in case she missed something. And then, at last, the flier broke into the solar system that Coruscant laid in. Claire couldn't help but gasp. Off in the distance, the city planet floated in space. And it really was a city planet— all it seemed to consist of was just lights galore of the whole entire planet. It was literally one giant round city. It was still a ways off, and so Claire could see the whole of the planet revolving through space.

"Wow…" Claire said out loud. R7 beeped outside. "Bring this ting in, at high speed," Claire ordered the droid. It beeped and buzzed in response, and soon enough the flier was speeding along toward the planet, still attached to the round mechanical hyper driver.

Claire soaked it all in: the planet, the circles of lights, and even the other fliers and ships that she could see coming to and from the planet.

As Claire, R7, and her flier got nearer to the planet, R7 began speaking again.

"_We must leave the hyper driver here,_" it said.

"Oh, yeah, right," Claire replied, nodding in response.

"Get me off autopilot," Claire ordered, "I want to do this…" R7 beeped in response as was becoming usual in response to Claire's orders. R7 flipped a few switches and messed around the controls again, and then the flier fell back into the control of Claire. Claire gripped the steering wheel tightly, feeling a little more confident. Claire pulled the flier out of the mechanical grasp of the hyper driver, which R7 had detached himself, and she felt the flier go back to its almost weightless feeling as it was pulled into the cold empty space. Claire pushed the flier forward, and eventually she had it in the atmosphere of the planet. This planet didn't have any clouds that hindered Claire's viewing as she flew through the hot atmosphere. Now the weightless feeling was disappearing as the planet's gravity pulled the flier and Claire through the atmosphere. And then the flier broke out of the atmospheric light and then she saw the planet for what it was down below. Again, Claire gasped involuntarily. All that she could see through the orange glow of the afternoon sun was just city, for _miles_. Literally. There was no end to it. Tall buildings lined every square inch of the horizon and beyond. There were tall buildings, short ones, fat ones, and skinny ones. And most of all there were vehicles _everywhere_. Like on Jo'ron and most planets, the vehicles were speeding through the air constantly. But this place was _swarming_. There would be _no_ parking places. Claire kept rapt attention on everything, taking it al in and making sure she didn't miss (or hit) anything.

"R7," Claire said, realizing something, "where am I supposed to go?"

"_You are instructed to head to the Senate District of the Imperial City,_" R7 answered, "_You are almost there. It's only 120 more miles._" Claire felt a pang of annoyance. _120 miles_? She thought. But she shrugged away these thoughts. 120 miles could be covered in a matter of minutes if she went fast enough. So, with another burst of confident, Claire put the flier into almost maximum speed, and she was off, flying through the air, high enough to avoid most traffic. After all, she was still a flier, so she didn't have to follow the normal regulations of the city limits, right?

Just as she suspected, Claire reached the Imperial City quickly, with a few minutes to spare. Gently and carefully, Claire pulled the flier down into the main traffic zone, where thousands of vehicles were speeding carelessly through the air.

"Blast, how am I supposed to do this?" Claire said in frustration, as she hovered over the traffic, trying to figure out how to get into the line of vehicles. R7 beeped, but Claire didn't read his words. Instead she felt a sudden jerk of the flier, and in an instant the flier was pelting downward into the oncoming traffic. Claire let out a high scream just as the flier dodged a particularly large vehicle, and then the flier slid into the traffic and it was soon following behind the smaller vehicles. Claire was now breathing heavily.

"T-thanks R7," she said breathlessly, and she relaxed as R7 took over the flying for the time being. When her heart had stopped pounding in her chest, Claire looked out the window. The sun was splitting through the buildings, and since it was beginning to set, it was casting ominous shadows over everything. The sky was a brilliant pink colour, which Claire found particularly beautiful to look at. But she kept her focus on the city surrounding them, watching out for anything.

"Hey, there's a platform," Claire said, pointing. It was a flat platform, and amazingly it was empty. R7 beeped and buzzed in reply, and it directed the flier toward the landing platform. Claire took over when they exited the violent traffic, and she pulled the flier down toward the platform gracefully. Quicker than she did when she left Jo'ron, Claire landed the flier on the platform easily, though she landed a little too hard. Claire heard the engine powering down when she cut the engine. She sat in her seat for a moment, breathing.

"Well, that was fun," she said. R7 beeped. Claire reached up and pushed on the top of the cockpit and in response the cockpit door slip open to allow Claire to get out. When it opened, a rush of new oxygen met her, mixed with the fumes of the city. Claire wrinkled her nose in slight disgust. It definitely smelled different than Jo'ron.

"C'mon R7," Claire ordered, and she watched a second as the droid began to drop from the left wing of the plane. And then Claire grabbed her bag, and leapt from the flier, gracefully like she did when she got in, feeling the rush of the Force propelling her up, and then down. Claire landed gently and smoothly on the ground. She smiled at the feeling of utter security. She was back on the ground again. She definitely preferred the Force on the ground than she did in the air. As Claire turned to the empty platform to follow after R7, her security was suddenly shot down like a missile had hit it. Without her knowledge, three people had accumulated behind Claire, there arms folded, looking quite deadly.


	4. Chapter 4

**{Chapter 4: The City Planet**

**Coruscant**

Claire automatically tensed up at the sight of the three men. She began calculating every possible exit, every move she could do to hurt them, and she felt her hand slowly reach up to her light saber that was tucked into her belt. The two men, who were flanking the middle man, were large and potentially dangerous. The middle man however, didn't look at harmful. But Claire had the distinct feeling that he could be potentially deadly as well.

"Claire Pelatiah," the middle man spoke, looking at Claire with a peculiar look, "you are to come with us." Claire narrowed her eyes, his hand still inching up toward her light saber. She wanted to asked how they knew who she was, but instead what came out was:

"Take me where?"

To her surprise, and almost warm smile appeared on the man's dark face.

"To the Jedi Temple," he said simply. Suddenly Claire felt as though a bucket of ice cold water was dumped on her head. _Jedi Temple?_ She thought, her mind racing. She examined the man in front of her, only to realize that this man wasn't dangerous to her at all. He was wearing cream-coloured Jedi garb.

"Jedi Master," Claire said, and abruptly she bowed humbly in respect.

"Forgive me, I didn't know I would be escorted," she added when she straightened.

"No matter," the Jedi Master said, "I am Master Windu. Now if you would please follow me, Miss Pelatiah." Master Windu waved his hand behind him, and then he turned away. Claire nodded at R7, and she followed after the Jedi and the other two men, R7 trailing behind her. When they got into the building, it was then that Claire realized that she had in fact landed her flier at the Jedi temple itself. _They must've planned it, knowing I was coming…_ Claire thought to herself as she walked into the building. It was brightly lit, and very large. Claire couldn't help but stare around in awe. She was in the Jedi Temple of Coruscant. _Wait 'till Mercado hears about this,_ Claire smirked.

Claire followed the Jedi Master down the corridors, keeping her eyes peeled yet again.

"Master Windu," Claire asked after a few minutes of trailing behind the Jedi, "why exactly are we here, if I may ask?"

"The Council wishes to inquire of you on behalf of your being here," Master Windu replied. Claire frowned. She didn't question further out of respect. It was true though, that she didn't have a clue what her assignment was anyway.

Pretty soon, the four of them and the droid reached a large glass door. Windu waved away the two men, who bowed themselves away. Master Windu then turned to Claire.

"Meet me inside please," he ordered, and then he walked through the glass doors. Claire let out a breath of nervousness. It was like it was the previous night on Jo'ron. Suddenly Claire felt a pang of sadness. Jo'ron. She was only there… well, she really didn't know how long. It was evening on Coruscant… Did time even have meaning in hyper speed? Or did hours really fly by during her few minutes of traveling? Claire shook herself back to reality. She couldn't let her mind wander. She had to go in and see the Jedi counsel. The Jedi Council… the big one. They weren't going to be her regular Council on Jo'ron. These were the top guns. The big guys. Claire shuddered. She looked down at herself, and she straightened her light-coloured Jedi garb. Dropping her hands to her side, Claire closed her eyes, tilted her head back, and took a deep breath while shaking her hands furiously in order to release herself of her nerves. She stopped, letting a sense of calmness fill her. She took in one more deep breath, and then she opened her eyes.

"Let's do this…" Claire muttered. She looked back at R7.

"Stay here R7," she said quietly. And then she pushed open the doors to the Jedi Council's room.

It looked very much similar to the Jedi Hall on Jo'ron. In fact, if she didn't know any better, she could've swore that it was Jo'ron, except for the pink-coloured sky outside, and the thousands of vehicle swarming the air of Coruscant. The room was round like the one in Jo'ron, and brightly lit. More than seven chairs lined the perimeter of the walls though, and Claire didn't look at any of the Jedi for fear of intimidation. She walked to the centre of the room, to the darkened circle on the floor. She bowed in respect as always, but kept her head slightly down, careful not to look at any of them.

"Claire Pelatiah," Windu said, and Claire allowed herself to look up at him.

"You were sent here, by our request, by Jedi Master Malek, am I correct?" he asked.

"Yes Master," Claire replied.

"Are you ready to take on your first mission assigned by the head of the Jedi Council?" he questioned again. Claire bowed her head slightly.

"Yes I am Master," she said.

"And you will complete this assignment, if possible?"

"Yes Master, to the best of my abilities I will," Claire said, fear beginning to rise. If she failed them… would embarrass Master Malek. She would embarrass the whole Council of Jo'ron. She would embarrass Mercado.

"Much fear I sense in you, Young Pelatiah," a small voice suddenly spoke. Claire felt a cold rush of fear, and she looked up at the source of the voice. A little green creature was seated cross-legged on a chair next to Master Windu.

"Master Yoda," Claire said, not bothering to hide the awe and embarrassment in her voice. She hadn't even noticed the powerful Jedi Master.

"Young you are, Pelatiah," Yoda continued, "much to learn you have."

"I know sir…" Claire said, her face falling.

"This case good for you it will be," Yoda said, and a small smile crept to the corner of his mouth. Claire blinked in surprise.

"I will do my best to please the Council," Claire said, feeling her confidence beginning to come back to her.

"That you will," Windu said with a bit of a smile. Claire smiled slightly back. The rest of the Council was silent, though they watched with quite a bit of interest.

"What is your assignment for me?" Claire asked the Council.

"As the Council on Jo'ron might have informed you, there is quite a bit of civilian trouble here in the Kadur district," said the Jedi Master on the other side of Yoda, whom Claire recognized as Master Ki-Adi Mundi. "It might seem like a minute job for some, but we already have a few Jedi on the case, and they have requested a bit of help." Claire nodded in response. She would take civilian trouble any day over the already-minute things she had to do on Jo'ron. Maybe the Council of Jo'ron would finally take notice of Claire's ability to do something useful for once.

"Your day come it will, Young Pelatiah," Master Yoda said softly, and Claire couldn't help but blink in surprise. Yoda was reading her mind. But she said nothing in response. She simply bowed in respect toward him.

"I will take the case, Jedi Masters," she announced, looking at them all firmly to assure them that she was fully capable of doing whatever they asked. If she could impress them, then surely Master Malek and the rest of the Jedi Council of Jo'ron could promote her somehow. Or at least recognize her.

"Good," Master Windu said, and he allowed himself a small smile again. Obviously he had great expectations for Claire. Claire nodded.

"Where shall I begin my case?" she asked them.

"Well, most of the activity seems to be coming from the Kadur district, so I suggest starting there. You should find your fellow Jedi's there," Master Ki-Adi Mundi replied. Claire nodded in response.

"Look for Jedi Master Qui-Gon Jinn," Master Windu instructed.

"Qui-Gon Jinn…" Claire repeated, imbedding the name in her mind so she wouldn't forget it.

"Thank you, Jedi Masters of the Council," Claire finally spoke, looking up, feeling a new wave of confidence wash over her. She looked the Council in the eye, firm in her belief that she would complete this mission.

"Thank _you_, Young Pelatiah," Master Ki-Adi Mundi replied, nodding toward Claire. Claire bowed once more before the Council of the Jedi's.

"I shall not fail you," Claire said. And with that, she turned on her heel and walked confidently out of the Council room. As the glass door closed behind her, Claire looked at R7 who was waiting patiently (at least Claire liked to think so) for her.

"I got it R7," she said quietly, and then she grinned. "I finally got an assignment." R7 beeped softly in response.

"C'mon, let's go," Claire said, and she waved R7 to follow her out of the Jedi Temple.

Back inside the Council's room, Master Windu looked inquisitively over at Master Yoda.

"Much distress I sense in Young Pelatiah…" he said softly, his words trailing.

"Do you think she's ready for something like this?" Master Windu asked the ancient Jedi. Yoda was silent a moment.

"Ready she is for this assignment," he finally said, sounding as though he was deep in thought. "Darkness her future clouds…" he continued. "Difficult it is to tell." And then Yoda fell silent. Master Windu glanced at the rest of the Council, before turning his gaze to the glass door that Claire had just left out of.

Reaching the outside of the Jedi temple, Claire was met with a burst of cold night air, mixed with the smells of the city planet. Claire successfully resisted the urge to wrinkle her nose in response. She'd have to get used to it. As Claire stepped onto the platform and started out toward her flier, she stopped, looking up at the sky. It was now dark out, except for a small pink strip of light at the base of the sky line. The thousands of vehicles were still flying through the air without a care in the world, or so it seemed. All the lights of the buildings and the businesses were turned on and shining brightly, displaying their products and advertising random things. The sight was actually fairly awesome. Claire sighed. With one final look at the horizon, she strolled toward her flier. R7 had already made it there, and it was twitching anxiously.

"We're going to have to find a normal vehicle R7," Claire said, putting her hands on her hips and looking at the flier, then out across the vast numbers of cars and flying things. Claire nodded toward the flier.

"In," she ordered, and as R7 rolled toward the left wing, Claire leapt gracefully into the cockpit. With one last look at the Jedi Temple, Claire closed the cockpit and fired up the engine.


	5. Chapter 5

**{Chapter 5: Tracking**

"Here," Claire Pelatiah said, pulling out a wad of money, and counting out the correct amount. The tall green alien was holding out his hand anxiously, waiting for his customer to pay him. Claire handed him the money, said thank you, and then turned toward the vehicle she just rented. It was a vivid purple colour, which Claire was objectionable toward, except that the alien wanted to give Claire some money off of it because she was a visitor, a very pretty human, and a Jedi. The alien had already knocked off 10% of the price when he saw her, but she he saw her light saber, he quickly knocked off an additional 15%. _That's the perks of being a Jedi,_ Claire thought with a wry smile as she walked over to the purple vehicle. She patted its side and sighed. R7, who was waiting by the flier that was parked a few meters away, beeped irritably. Claire looked over at him.

"R7, you can't fit in this one," Claire said, with a hint of sorrow in her voice. She was beginning to like having R7 as company. He beeped again at her. Claire walked over to him, sighing again.

"C'mon R7, don't be that way," said Claire, and she kneeled in front of him.

"Look, take the flier over to the nearest parking place… go… get a drink, if you even can," Claire said gently, "and… I'll keep in touch through this," she added, and she handed him a small device. "I won't be long R7." R7 made a sad little beeping sound as Claire stood. He followed Claire as she walked over to the side of her vehicle.

"Go on R7," Claire said, nodding off. R7 made another sad beep, and then he backed up, bowing slightly as if depressed. Claire bit her lip uncomfortably, but she jumped into the diver's side of the vehicle anyway. She watched R7 roll over to the flier once more, and when he was retracted into the left wing, Claire fired up the engine to her vehicle. She sighed to herself. Mercado had one of these on Jo'ron, and he let Claire drive it most of the time. So she was used to it, and it wasn't as intimidating as a flier.

Claire pulled the vehicle up into the air. It was an easy vehicle, and it moved smoothly at the lightest touch. Claire smiled in satisfaction. So the alien didn't rip her off. Claire pressed on the accelerator, and the vehicle suddenly shot through the air, the wind whipping Claire square in the face. The air was cool, and thick with the scents of the city planet, though Claire could already feel herself adapting to the strange world. Pretty soon, Claire had the vehicle lodged in the oncoming traffic, which was blaringly loud in Claire's ears. As she flew with the traffic, Claire looked down at the dashboard.

"Map," she said, and in response a holographic image flickered into view. It was of the planet.

"Kadur district," Claire continued, and she watched as the holographic image zoomed in on the planet, and thousands of streets and building appeared on the screen. The hologram continued to zoom in until it was focused on the area that Claire was supposed to go.

"Can you give me directions to the Kadur district?" Claire asked. The hologram then zoomed outward, and a thin red line appeared from the point that Claire was currently traveling, and it extended all the way from her point to the Kadur system. It was practically a straight shot.

"Thank you," Claire said, and she turned her gaze back to the traffic as the hologram disappeared. Claire let the vehicle drive itself, turning it over to autopilot to head to the district that she needed to go. She relaxed her head against the dark leather seat behind her, looking up at the sky. It was a clear sky, and she could see the stars through the tall building stretching almost endlessly up into the black abyss. It was actually quite beautiful, which was something Claire didn't expect. When she thought of Coruscant, she only imaged the vast city planet, with all its lights and buildings. Nothing of real beauty. But the lights, of both the vast universe and the city itself, made the planet something worth looking at. Claire closed her eyes, feeling the wind. She was exhausted. Maybe hyper speed really did have no concept of time, and the hours really did fly by. Or maybe it was everything that had been happening, coupled with the fact that it was dark and cool on a strange new planet. Either way, Claire could've fallen asleep in the vehicle as it sped down through the traffic.

Just as Claire was relaxing herself and letting the exhaustion take her, an abrupt honking from a vehicle behind her startled her and she snapped open her eyes, bolting upright. She was slowing down in the middle of the intersection, vehicles swerving around her while she took up precious space.

"What's wrong?" Claire asked stupidly, frowning, and looking around. When she looked at the dash board, she noticed that the auto pilot button was flashing. Her confused frown was soon turned into a sharp scowl.

"Blast," she muttered. _So the alien did rip me off somehow,_ she thought bitterly, and she clicked a few buttons. When she got the inactive auto pilot off, she felt the control of the vehicle fall back into her grip, and it felt unusually heavy. Still scowling, Claire pulled the vehicle down through the traffic to let the other's pass. Now mumbling to herself, Claire weaved through the traffic, keeping a close eye on the map and the "road" at the same time. She wasn't too far from the Kadur district, which was, according to the holographic map on the dashboard, coming up shortly.  
For the next few minutes, Claire glided along with the traffic, letting the pull of the other vehicle carry her, until the map directed her sharply to the right, and Claire swiftly obeyed. When she did, the map dinged to announce that she arrived in the Kadur district. When Claire looked up, she blinked in surprise. There definitely was a difference in the Imperial district than there was in the Kadur district. Instead of multi-coloured lights, and holograms consisting of meetings at the Jedi Temple or the Imperial Center, the whole of the Kadur district was a deep blue colour, and the advertisement holograms sported shopping malls, bars, and other restaurants. Claire gazed at the strange new district, watching the advertisements and trying to see more than just a haze of blue. Again, Claire realized that she never really asked exactly where she would kind this Qui-Gon Jinn. Did she just start her mission, which was helping to calm down the civil unrest, or should she work to find the Jedi's anyway? Frowning at her new predicament, Claire continued to make her way through the traffic, which was actually quite thinner than it was in the Imperial district.

After a few more minutes of gliding along, Claire finally noticed a break in the continual line of vehicles parked along the roads down below. Claire leaned out over her vehicle, peering down over the side to look. As soon as she saw the break, she pointed the nose of the vehicle downward like Mercado had taught her, and the vehicle obeyed and pushed its way downward to the ground. Gently, the vehicle hit the gravitational boundary of the hover craft, and Claire parked it outside the building she was in front of. Claire sighed as she jumped out of the vehicle and her feet landed smoothly on actual ground. She wasn't on a platform, or high up in a temple. She was on solid ground. Claire looked up at the building in front of her, reading the signs that were all in different languages, most of which she understood. It was a restaurant. Turning back to her vehicle, Claire reached in and grabbed her light saber which she had removed from her belt for the time being. She tucked it into her belt, and then she reached up and pulled her light-coloured Jedi garb farther down her waist to conceal her light saber and seem a little less conspicuous. They weren't the usual loose robes of a Jedi, since Claire had a complicated status, so she wasn't bound to the guidelines and strictly as others might have been. But she liked the general style. So she chose something that fit her more comfortably.

At last Claire looked up once more, and then she walked into the restaurant confidently.

The inside of the restaurant wasn't a deep blue colour like the city outside. It was royal orange colour, not too strong, not too weak. It gave Claire the impression of being thrown into a furnace suddenly. As Claire inspected the structure and design in mild interest, a droid rolled up to her.

"Can I help you?" the droid asked. Claire looked at the droid.

"Yes, you can," she said, "I need to speak with a few people. Jedi business," and as Claire said it, she lifted up the bottom of her shirt to reveal her light saber. The droid glanced at her light saber, and then it nodded. Claire followed it deeper into the restaurant, ignoring the stares of interest from eating customers. The droid waved it's mechanical arm around to gesture toward the people.

"Thank you," Claire said, and the droid rolled away to attend the next customer who walked in. Claire looked around, avoiding the stares, until she saw a suitable person to interrogate.

"Excuse me," Claire asked as she walked up to a cleanly man who had deep green skin and bright hair. He looked to be a part of some sort of business organization. He looked up with large yellow eyes, and a bored look crossed his face.

"May I help you?" he asked, his tone just as bored as his face.

"Yes," Claire said, and she allowed herself a pleasing smile.

"I just need to ask you a question," she continued, and then she stepped over to the table, pulled out the chair across from the man, and then she settled down in the seat. "Do you know of any Jedi's that have been in this area recently?" The man looked at her, and Claire noticed a flicker of fear at the mention of Jedi's.

"Now I need to know," Claire added, with a hint of authority icing her voice.

"L-look," the man started, "I haven't done anything, if you think I've done something…" Claire smiled disturbingly.

"Of course not," she said, "I just need to find them. But I suggest you let me know." The man leaned in closer to Claire, and she got a whiff of whatever he was eating.

"I hear they came here a couple days ago. Trying to stop the issue with the humanoids who were causing trouble a while back," he said. Claire cocked her head to the side.

"Okay, that's a start," she said, and the man gulped. "Do you happen to know where they are now?" The man shrugged.

"It's hard to tell with them Jedi's," he said, but at Claire's stern look he added hastily, "but the humanoids are likely at the Calorissan's Pub, just down the street a little ways, you can't miss it. The Jedi would be there if they're following them." At that Claire smiled brightly again.

"Thank you very much, now see, wasn't that easy?" she said. The man gulped again. Claire bid him farewell, and then she stood and pushed the chair back into its place. Without a look behind her, Claire walked out of the restaurant, thanking the droid once more before she left completely. When Claire was outside, she crossed to the other side of her vehicle, and pushed a knob on the dashboard to view the map again.

"Calorissan's Pub," she ordered, and the map zoomed in on the area that Claire was in. The hologram directed her up the street and to the left.

"Thanks," Claire muttered, and she shut off the hologram. Claire reached down and pressed her thumb into the lock on the car door, to make sure no one could steal it. And with that, she turned on her heel and headed down the blue-lit sidewalk.

Claire reached the Calorissan's Pub easily. It was just right down the street like the alien had said. Claire looked up at it, and she had a sinking feeling. She hated bars and night clubs; they were full of sick people and perverts. Why a Jedi would risk going in a place like this, was beyond Claire's knowledge. Every inch of her being screaming at her not to, Claire stepped into the bar, bracing herself.


	6. Chapter 6

**{Chapter 6: The Jedi**

When inside, Claire was met with an onslaught of noises, lights, and too many people for her comfort. Gambling tables lined the walls, three different sets of music were blaring, and there was a constant swarm of people as far as the eye could see.

"How am I supposed to find anyone in here?" Claire mumbled to herself, and she set through the large darkened room. She avoided staring eyes, lustful eyes, and murderous-looking eyes. Claire felt like she was just bathed in awful iniquity. She squeezed through tight lines of people, careful not to touch anyone. She hated being touched. When she got though one particularly large thicket of people, she finally saw the bar that was place was named for. Claire stalked over to it, beginning to feel quite bitter about her predicament. Stepping up to the bar, she slapped the counter loudly, and sidle to the side as a large ugly alien looked over at her in interest.

"Yeah, water please…" Claire asked kindly, and she placed a coin on the counter for the bar tender. The bartender nodded wordlessly, and turned away to get his customer a water. Claire leaned against the counter, sighing, and avoiding any eye contact with anyone. As she stayed there, feeling her internal alarm system going nuts, Claire remembered a session of training on Jo'ron a while back ago…

"_Let the calmness fill you," Mercado said, and he placed his hand gently over Claire's. Only he was ever given the permission to touch Claire. Claire sighed, leaning her head back and trying not to let the situation bother her. She was standing on the edge of a very large drop-off, one that most young people were nervous about standing so close to. The edges of Claire's feet were off the edge, and Mercado was gripping Claire's shoulder tightly to make sure she didn't drop off the edge. _

"_Mercado," Claire said, her eyes tightly closed, and her mind began to panic again as she felt Mercado loosen his grip. _

"_Claire," Mercado said, calmly and soothingly, "you have to let go of all fear. Trust your instincts. Whatever predicament you might be in, don't think of the bad. Let the Force calm you... know your strengths, not your weaknesses. Face the danger... and know what you are..." Claire stopped, and she listened to his words. Claire broadened her mind, letting the Force come into her and fill her with calmness. Claire breathed in a slow breath, relaxing against the fear that surrounded her. And without her realization, Mercado slowly released his grip on Claire's shoulder. After a moment or two, Claire opened her eyes, and she looked out across the cliff. And not a shred of fear filled her._

Claire opened her eyes, and she was filled with the sounds of the Calorissan's Pub once more. Though this time, she let the calmness of the Force fill her like it did on the cliff on Jo'ron. When the bartender came back around with Claire's water, she accepted the water gracefully, and she took a quick gulp. Claire sighed, feeling better, even though her predicament in the bar had not changed much. She did however, feel stronger, and more connected to the force, for at that moment Claire felt a bit of disturbance in her calmness, and she sensed a being behind her. Claire cocked her head, trying to determine the source of the upset. It was then she realized a man was creeping up behind her with unclean thoughts. Claire turned her head to the side, barely glimpsing her stalker. She could though, sense his hand reaching out.

"Touch me, and you might lose something very valuable to you," Claire said sincerely and coldly. The stalker stopped abruptly, and Claire took this moment to turn in her seat, and flash her light saber at the man. He was a stocky human, with unkempt hair and wild eyes.

"Don't mess with a Jedi," Claire whispered dramatically, and with that she downed the rest of her water, slammed the glass on the counter, and started to walk away. When she could feel the eyes following her, Claire rolled her eyes, and then turned around. She waved her hand swiftly, and then watched with satisfaction as the man's, as well as the ugly alien's still seated at the bar, eyes glaze over in confusion. Claire smiled barely, feeling successful, and then she turned back around to continue on her way.

Claire kept her eyes peeled, and she realized that she was no longer sleepy as she was when she was flying the vehicle outside. Claire glanced around the pub, trying to spot someone who might look like they know a Jedi. But it was fairly dark, and difficult to tell anything about most people (excluding those who actually glowed). As Claire walked forward a bit, a crowd of people parted, and Claire saw someone. There, maybe 5 yards off, was a young man. He was standing there, looking as though he was waiting for something. He had his arms crossed in front of him, and he was peering around casually. And as she watched him, Claire had the sudden instinct to talk to him. It felt like the Force was propelling her. So Claire obeyed, and she walked toward the young man. Claire dodged a few people on the way, and soon enough she was in talking distance with the young man.

"Excuse me," Claire said, as she reached him. The young man barely glanced at her.

"Excuse me, I need your help," Claire asked. The young man did, that time, turn his gaze to Claire. From what she could tell in the dimness, he had short brown hair, and he was fairly tall, just slightly taller than her. Claire felt a surge of frustration as the young man glanced her over, and she could tell he was trying to determine who, or what, she was. Then, in response, he raised his hand and barely waved it.

"You don't need my help," he said, and Claire caught a bit of accent that was fairly close to her own.

And then the young man turned away again. Claire blinked in shock, unsure of what this guy's problem was.

"I'm sorry, but yes, I do need your help," she said again. The young man turned back to Claire, obviously shocked at first. But that shock was quickly turned into annoyance. He raised his hand again.

"I said you don't need my help," he repeated. And once more he turned away. And then it hit Claire. This guy was attempting to do a Jedi mind trick on her. The frustration boiled up again inside her.

"Hey, who do you think you are, doing your mind tricks on me?" Claire asked roughly, and she reached out to turn the young man back to face her. The young man looked at his shoulder where Claire touched him. He looked up at Claire, and then he looked over her once more.

"It didn't work on you?" he asked, bewildered.

"Well no, because it just so happens that Jedi mind tricks don't work on other Jedi's," Claire said through gritted teeth and with false calmness, her eyes full of fire. The young man looked even more bewildered at that. But before he could reply to her, someone else appeared, and he didn't get a chance to reply. Claire looked up a tall, older man with sweeping grayish hair and kind eyes.

"Can I help you?" he asked gently. Claire sighed.

"Well yes, since this incompetent young man can't seem get past his own bewilderment," Claire said a little too roughly, but as she looked at the newcomer, she forced herself to calm down. Claire didn't, however, notice the young man glance at the older man with a strange expression.

"Well what do you need?" he asked her.

"I'm looking for a Jedi Master," Claire replied. The man gave her a peculiar look.

"And why would you be looking for a Jedi Master in this sort of place?" he asked. Claire forced herself to have patience.

"Because I was told he'd be here," she said, "I must find him."

"May I ask the name of the Jedi Master whom you seek?" the man asked. Claire hesitated a moment.

"Qui-Gon Jinn," she finally said. There was a flicker of some sort of expression, but Claire couldn't catch it quickly enough.

"I happen to know a Qui-Gon Jinn," he said, smiling again.

"Good," Claire said, and she allowed herself a relieved sigh. "Would you happen to know where he is?"

"If I may, why are you looking for him?" the man asked. Claire hesitated again, this time biting her lip.

"…The Council sent me," she said firmly, deciding it wouldn't hurt to tell him.

"Then you must be Claire Pelatiah," the man said, smiling again. Claire blinked in shock. This guy knew her name. She opened her mouth to speak, but she faltered. The young man was looking at the other again, looking almost as shocked as Claire. But again, she didn't catch this.

"I know this because I am Qui-Gon Jinn," the man added. Now Claire was even more speechless. She continued to blink.

"M-master Qui-Gon?" she finally sputtered out, and nervously she bowed her head in respect.

"I, I didn't know—" she started, but Qui-Gon waved a hand.

"No need to apologize Miss Pelatiah, a common mistake." He smiled once more. Claire smiled weakly back. Suddenly Qui-Gon gestured toward the young man next to him.

"I see you've met Obi-Wan Kenobi, my apprentice," he said. Claire abruptly snapped her head over to the young man who was staring at Claire with a mixture of disbelief and frustration. Claire had another shocked look on her face. But she eventually screwed it into a blank look and she bowed her head curtly, and he did the same. Claire turned back to Qui-Gon, who actually looked quite amused. Claire ignored the pangs of guilt for the way she treated the Jedi Master's apprentice.

"Well I'm glad I've found you then," Claire said respectfully, "or rather, you found me…" Claire allowed a peculiar look to cross her face.

"I heard that the humanoids who were causing the trouble down here in the Kadur district were in fact here in this place, if my source is correct," Claire added casually. Master Qui-Gon nodded in agreement.

"We had the same tip, though it seems that we are unlucky enough to have barely missed them, seeing as they are not here," he said. Claire furrowed her brow.

"It seems as though they were tipped of our arrival," Obi-Wan Kenobi spoke up, and Claire turned to acknowledge him.

"Obviously," she said, her tone thick with ice, "which is why I'm glad we've met up. From what I've heard," Claire turned back to Qui-Gon Jinn while Obi-Wan flushed with indignation at Claire's tone, "there seems to be quite a large group of humanoids involved." Claire stopped, thinking about the situation.

"If I may, would you happen to know what they've done?" she asked.

"Smuggling," Obi-Wan replied quickly. Claire looked at him, her eyes like ice now.

"Smuggling?" she questioned, "smuggling what?"

"Illegal arms," Qui-Gon answered. It was now Claire's turn to look bewildered.

"Illegal arms?" she repeated. _I never had to deal with this on Jo'ron…_She thought to herself.

"Why?" she added.

"There seems to be a rumor of an assassination attempt on the Chancellor," Obi-Wan answered. Claire couldn't help but keep her bewildered expressions.

"My word, what has Faleur gotten me into…?" she muttered, turning away from the two Jedi.

"You are up to this, aren't you?" Qui-Gon Jinn suddenly asked. Claire stopped, and abruptly she turned back around.  
"I am ready Master Qui-Gon," she said, "I will prove my worth." With that said, she bowed humbly once more.

"Though, if I may be so bold," she added, after a moment of silence between them, "can we leave this place? It's beginning to…er… upset." Qui-Gon Jinn smiled warmly.

"Certainly," he replied. Claire gave an inward sigh of relief, and then followed behind the Jedi as they led themselves out of the highly raucous Calorissan's Pub. On the way out, Obi-Wan continued to cast side-long glances at his master.

Outside of the pub, Claire found herself at a loss for words at the utter difference in the inside of the pub compared to the outside world. It was such a difference. For one, the air was so much cooler and not as foul to be honest, since the pub was filled with a thousand scents including smoke, food, and unidentifiable smells which Claire was certain that she didn't want to know the source of. And the outside was once again doused with a deep blue colour, which seemed to give Claire a sleepy feeling. The effect of it must've been noticeable on Claire's face, because Qui-Gon was looking at Claire with a peculiar expression.

"Sorry," she apologized stiffly, "long day." She stifled a yawn, letting out a sigh.

"Well, since it is late… and we've no leads at this time…" Qui-Gon started, and he had a thoughtful look cross his face.

"I suppose, if you have no lodging, you could stay with us," he finally suggested. Obviously, Obi-Wan couldn't contain himself at that.

"What!" he cried, staring in shock as Qui-Gon. Both Claire and Qui-Gon turned to him.

"Master—" he started, "please, she can't possibly—"

"Is there a reason why she cannot?" Qui-Gon questioned, looking curiously at his apprentice. But Obi-Wan faltered. He opened his mouth, but no words came out.

"Look, I don't want to be a problem," Claire cut in, trying not to show that she was offended at the young Jedi's reaction.

"You're not a problem, Miss Pelatiah," Qui-Gon said, turning to Claire, "we would be honored to have you stay in our complex." He smiled in assurance at Claire's hesitant look.

"Only if it's alright," Claire replied, and she nodded.

"Good," Qui-Gon replied, and he turned away. Claire saw him smile mysteriously at his apprentice, who looked utterly disheveled.

"I'll bring my vehicle over here," Claire said quietly, and without another look at the young Jedi, she turned on her heel and walked swiftly down the sidewalk.

Reaching her vehicle, Claire found herself muttering to herself.

"How dare him…" she said, as she unlocked her vehicle with her thumbprint, "he has no right…. I'm practically a rank higher than him…" she said, and she leapt with grace into the vehicle, catching the attention of a few passerbies. Claire reached into her pocket, and pulled out a small device. She clicked a few button, then brought the device up to her ear.

"R7," she said, "are you there?" After a few seconds, R7 familiar beeping replied.

"I'm sure you have a tracking device on this," Claire said, "I'm heading over to… some place, for lodging, with the Jedi's. I want you to follow me there, okay? Meet us there with the flier." R7 beeped again, signaling his understanding.

"Okay, see you there," Claire said, and she shut off the device. And with that, Claire fired up the engine of the vehicle, pulling it up in the air.


	7. Chapter 7

**Wow. I'm not even going to begin to contemplate how long it has been since I've edited this... and I've wrote so much since! Hopefully whoever reads this might be interested in continuing it... I will definitely try harder to keep up with this.**

**{Chapter 7: Eavesdropped**

Claire finally landed her violently purple vehicle in front of a tall tan building, which she assumed was the Jedi's lodging since they themselves were parked there as well. Claire, feeling the pressure of the gravity keeping her vehicle slightly above the ground, she leapt up, and landed on the outside of her vehicle. As she did so, she noticed Obi-Wan Kenobi do the same thing, watching Claire with a look of slight annoyance. Claire willed herself not to think a thought against him. It took all of her Jedi dignity to do so.

As Claire walked up to the two Jedi, they turned just in time to hear a low rumbling sound in the midst of all the city noises. Coming toward them, Claire realized, was her flier. To avoid alarming the Jedi's, Claire walked over to where the flier was beginning to land. Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan watched in interest. As soon as the flier touched the ground, the hatch where R7 was opened and he came sliding out. He rolled toward Claire, and if she didn't know any better, she would've assumed he was joyed to see her. He came up to her, beeping madly. Claire looked down at him curiously.

"What, you don't like Coruscant?" she asked sarcastically. She grinned as he made a funny sound.

"Thanks for keeping the flier, R7," she said. But as she turned to walk back to the Jedi's awaiting her, R7 followed. Claire stopped, looking at him again.

"R7," she said, "I don't think you can stay in there." R7 beeped, twisting his little head around.

"Hey, someone's got to guard the flier and the vehicle while I'm in there," she added. R7 made a sound that sounded irritable. Claire rolled her eyes.

"You're very stubborn, you know that?" she muttered. Then she turned to glance expectantly at Qui-Gon.

"I'm sure it'll be fine if he stays with you," he assured her. Claire turned back to R7 who was waiting.

"Oh fine," she muttered, "you'd better stay quiet then." Claire turned on her heel and stalked away, R7 now beeping happily and following after her. Qui-Gon seemed quite amused by the little droid.

Inside the Jedi's tower, Claire was arranged a room of her own, and Claire graciously thanked Qui-Gon more than once for his kindness.

"I suppose we can finish our search for the humanoids in the morning… though, I'm quite anxious to find out more about this case," Claire said thoughtfully as the bid each other farewell.

"I'm sure we will have a lot to discuss about," Qui-Gon replied. Claire nodded. She bowed respectfully once more.

"Thank you again Master Qui-Gon," she said when she straightened, "you and your apprentice." Claire barely glanced over at Obi-Wan who was standing next to his master, his arms crossed, his face calm, though his eyes showed his bitterness. Claire couldn't help but realize that the source of his bitterness must be because of her. But she forced herself to ignore it. Claire bid them one last look of goodnight, and then she turned away to head down the corridor that held her room, R7 following closely behind.

In her room, Claire sighed as she dropped her bag down on the nearest chair. She collapsed into the chair with it, feeling very tired very fast. R7 had rolled over to the nearest wall, and he was busy plugging himself into it for the night. Claire watched him, only wishing she could to the same. She was so tired, yet she felt as though she couldn't go to sleep for the life of her. She was on a strange planet, with strange people, her Jedi heritage being put to the test. She felt like she was doing a terrible job though, getting all worked up over a young Jedi like Obi-Wan. It wasn't her fault that he seemed keen on disliking her at first sight. Claire sighed as she thought about this, and she reached up and pinched the bridge of her nose.

"All I need is some rest…" she said to herself, "everything will be better in the morning…" Claire nodded to herself about this. She opened her eyes once more, looking out across her room. Suddenly she realized that she was missing all her belonging.

"Blast!" she cried suddenly, jumping up. She looked over at R7, who had gotten himself attached to the wall, and he was fast asleep. Claire sighed. She would have to do it on her own. With a furious grunt, Claire marched out of her room, muttering under her breath about her own carelessness.

As Claire made her way down the darkened hall of the building, she slowed down as she passed by the other Jedi's room. As she walked by stealthily, she stopped. She could hear voices on the other side of the door. Claire stopped, straining her ears to listen. When she heard the now familiar soft voice of Qui-Gon Jinn, Claire listened even harder. As she tried to listen to the voices, Claire abruptly realized what she was doing. She scolded herself. _Now is not the time to be eavesdropping on your fellow Jedi's,_ she thought harshly. With that Claire pulled away from the door. But as Claire was about to continue on her way, she was stopped again by her name be mentioned in the conversation. Claire stopped dead, now seriously curious. _I have the right to know…_ she argued with herself. And so Claire crept forward toward the door. Careful not to make a sound, Claire carefully and stealthily put her ear up to the door to listen. After a moment, Claire's exceptional hearing kicked in and she listened.

"You mustn't think of her that way," Qui-Gon Jinn said quietly.

"She's incompetent," Obi-Wan said back, and Claire could imagine the bitter look on his face. _Incompetent?_ Claire thought.

"She's a Jedi," replied Qui-Gon Jinn, "you're only frustrated with her because she got the better of you."

"Got the bett—? Now Master," Obi-Wan said. "She didn't get the better of me. She caught me off guard." It got quiet a moment.

"I think she's rude and uncaring..." Obi-Wan muttered.

"You don't know her," Qui-Gon replied.

"Well, from what I've seen," Obi-Wan threw back, but he stopped himself. Once more it got quiet.

"We still have to work with her," Qui-Gon said quietly.

"I don't trust her," Obi-wan replied, "Jedi or not. And she's young on top of that…"

"Youth has nothing to do with it. She's at a higher rank than you, you know," said Qui-Gon. Claire smiled in triumph at that. She could almost see the look of confusion crossing Obi-Wan's face.

"She's no longer an apprentice, even at the age of twenty-one," Qui-Gon continued.

"_Twenty-one?_" Obi-Wan said in disbelief, "she _is_ too young!" Claire frowned at that. _Twenty-one isn't that young…_

"The Council, on both Jo'ron and here on Coruscant trust her with this. They believe she's ready," Qui-Gon said.

"Well we'll just have to see about that…" Obi-Wan replied, and Claire could tell that he must've stood from where he was sitting, for his voice seemed to have moved.

"Well, she will help us with these humanoids, and then she'll be back to Jo'ron," Qui-Gon said. Obi-Wan was quiet.

"Well… I hope we get this finished soon…" he mumbled.

Claire stopped listening at that moment. Slowly, she stood. So that Jedi really did despise her something fierce. Almost unthinking, Claire made her way down the hall, toward the exit of the building. As if in a trance, she crossed the threshold to the darkened outside, and she walked over to her waiting flier. As she stood by the flier, she gazed longingly at it. She could leave. She really could. If that young Jedi didn't want her there so badly, then why stay if that jeopardizes the mission. But Claire shook her head as she thought about Mercado and Jo'ron. They were waiting for her… So, numbly, Claire made up her mind and she grabbed her few suitcases, and heaved them away to the darkened building.

Before she knew it, she was back in her room, dumping her belongings on the floor. Without even changing, Claire dropped down on the bed, her mind reeling. A few tears leaked out of her eyes as she laid there, thinking of the conversation she eavesdropped on. And so, her last thoughts being on the harsh words that Obi-Wan spoke, Claire finally fell into a restless sleep.

The next morning, Claire woke up with a splitting headache. She definitely didn't feel like a Jedi. At first she was terrified at her surroundings, and she forgot where she was. But soon it all came flooding back to her. The trip, the Pub, Qui-Gon Jinn, and— Claire stopped on Obi-Wan Kenobi. The conversation she overheard last night once again played over in her head. Claire closed her eyes tightly. _No, _she thought, _I won't let this effect me. Just get it out of your mind. This won't affect you._ Claire took in a deep breath, relaxing herself. _Let the Force fill you… _Claire took in one more breath, and then she opened her eyes. Slowly, she pulled herself up, stretching a bit.

"R7," she said, yawning largely. When the droid didn't respond, Claire looked over to the wall where he was plugged in. He was still sitting there like a little statue. Slowly Claire walked over to him. She knelt, feeling her knees crack.

"R7?" she asked, tapping him gently. Almost delayed, the little droid's lights flipped on, and he twisted his head around blankly. Then he must've realized Claire was there, because he beeped loudly.

"Good morning," Claire said with a smile, "time to get moving." Still beeping in a joyful sort of way, the little droid hoisted itself from the wall. Claire, still rubbing the sleepiness from her eyes, walked over to her suitcase and opened it, grabbing a few things. In a matter of minutes Claire was already slipping on a clean set of her own light-coloured Jedi garbs, and tucking her light saber in her belt loop. She glanced around the room once more, and then she looked at R7.

"You ready?" she asked him. He beeped happily in response. Claire smiled at him, and then she walked over to her door. As she stepped out and allowed R7 to roll out after her, she turned and locked the door. As she turned back around to head down the hall, abruptly, she found herself face to face with none other than—

"Kenobi," Claire said, and she felt a frown cross her face. He seemed just as momentarily shocked.

"Good, you're up," he said curtly. Claire refused to let the previous night's conversation affect her at this moment.

"Good morning to you too," she said back, careful not to ice her tone. Obi-Wan must've notice this for he narrowed his eyes.

"Master Qui-Gon would like to get an early start today," he said, taking a few steps down the hall, but keeping his eyes on Claire, "the quicker we get this done, the better."_ Is that him talking, or you? _Claire was tempted to ask.

"Of course," Claire replied, bowing slightly, and then she turned away.

"C'mon R7," she said, waving her hand along. Obi-Wan watched her walk away, curious by her suddenly attitude of politeness. But he then ignored it, and continued on his way.

Soon, Claire had gotten herself some breakfast, and she found Qui-Gon Jinn waiting for her soon afterward.

"I believe since we have an extra Jedi," he said, and he cast a swift glance at Obi-Wan, "this will definitely make things easier. We've had a little luck so far, but one more person will help things go smoother."

"I'll try my best, Master Qui-Gon, to be of great help, and not a hindrance." Claire said respectfully.  
"You'll never be a hindrance, Miss Pelatiah," Qui-Gon said, and he smiled slightly at her.

Fairly soon enough, the Jedi's were out in the air again, Claire following close behind in her very purple vehicle. She was forced to leave R7 behind again, who was greatly disappointed. Claire was too, as it was becoming quite nice to have the little droid around. So the three Jedi's set out through Coruscant on their mission.


	8. Chapter 8

**{Chapter 8: Finished**

Throughout the day, the Jedi's explored the lengths of the Kadur District, interrogating people about the whereabouts of the criminal humanoids, barely making any progress. But they didn't give up. In fact, things looked up later that night, while they were out exploring the grounds, which included, to Claire's discomfort, the bars and pubs. Though, the other two Jedi's weren't very keen on going in them either. But they got a nice tip, and it was only right to check it out. So Claire gritted her teeth and faced the bar, trusting the Jedi Master and his apprentice's judgment.

The inside of this bar was similar to the one they were in the previous night, which didn't help ease Claire any. When they stopped in the middle of the bar, which caught a lot of people's attention, Qui-Gon turned to Claire.

"We should split up," he said, "we can cover more ground that way." Claire nodded, and she turned away. Obi-Wan began to walk away to head his own way, when Qui-Gon stopped him.

"I think you should stick with Miss Pelatiah," he said. Obi-Wan blinked in shock.

"But— Master," he started.

"I think it would help," he said.

"Master Qui-Gon," Claire said, turning as she heard this, "I do believe I am quite capable to doing this on my own." She resisted looking at Obi-Wan.

"I quite agree," Obi-Wan said.

"A very good point, Miss Pelatiah," he said, "but seeing as it would be more intimidating to one of the humanoids to see two Jedi's instead of one.

"Then why can't I stay with you?" Obi-Wan replied, "Or even her with you?"

"Because I myself am a Master," Qui-Gon replied, and he smiled mysteriously again. Obi-Wan looked as though he wanted to protest, but instead he bowed.

"Yes Master," he said respectfully, and then he turned to Claire. Claire turned away, without even glancing at Obi-Wan. And so the two were stuck with one another, and both were very resentful about it.

Walking through the bar, looking for any suspicious people, Claire and Obi-Wan didn't say a word to each other. They just kept in line with one another, following the other when one turned a different direction. The two had barely taken notice of each other all day, in fact, Claire had noticed. Claire thought about attempting to be nice, but every time the opportunity arrived, Claire found that Obi-Wan was seemingly impossible to try and be nice to, especially since he already despised her and seemed intent on not speaking to her. Claire was even beginning to wonder why he despised her or her him. It was quite foolish, and Claire felt childish being frustrated at him for only a misunderstanding the night before. But then, she could see why he was so hard to deal with, because he seemed ungrateful and harsh. Toward her anyway. While Claire was musing over this, Obi-Wan abruptly held out his arm.

"Look," he said, and he nodded toward a corner of the bar. Claire looked in the direction that the young Jedi indicated, and she saw a couple people. One was a funny-looking guy, who was nodding fervently at another guy, who was human-looking. The human-looking guy was saying something to the other alien, and then he held out something. And from Claire's point of view it looked like—

"A weapon," Claire whispered. She looked over at Obi-Wan, who caught her gaze, and then nodded. Claire nodded back, and then the two head over to that side of the bar.

After dodging a few people in the way, they finally reached them. And Claire was first to speak.

"Excuse me," Claire said as they reached them and was in ear-shot. The humanoid stopped talking abruptly and turned to look at Claire. He looked over her, his eyes raking over her body. And then he stopped on her light saber. His eyes flickered up to her's and Claire narrowed them. Before Claire could say another word, Obi-Wan stepped out in front of her, looking quite determined. At the site of another Jedi, the humanoid suddenly took off, causing people to part in alarm. Without further a due, and without Obi-Wan's consent, Claire took off after him. In the hustle and bustle of her sudden action, Claire distinctly heard

"Pelatiah!" come from Obi-Wan, but she ignored it. With a frustrated sigh, Obi-Wan dashed off after Claire.

Claire dodged a few shady-looking people, not taking her eyes off the humanoid, who occasionally looked behind himself to see Claire hot on his heels. Obi-Wan, who was actually gaining on Claire due to the fact that the people Claire had pushed aside stayed parted as he passed them. Claire dashed after the humanoid, and as she did, she noticed the exit. And he was headed right for it.

"Oh no you don't," Claire growled, and then she kicked up her speed. Right as the humanoid was flying through the exit, Claire reached him. She grabbed the back of his garments, and then they went tumbling through the door and out into the cool night air. For a moment Claire released the humanoid's shirt in order to maintain her balance, but while she did, the humanoid stumbled from her grasp and went sprawling to the ground. Just as Claire was pulling her own self up, the humanoid was already on his feet. But Claire recovered even faster. In an instant she had the humanoid again and was tackling him to the ground. Behind her, Claire barely took notice of the door to the bar swinging open again. Obi-Wan came tumbling out, followed by Qui-Gon Jinn. Ignoring them, Claire turned the now shocked humanoid around to face her, and she pressed her knee sharply into his stomach.

"Hello," she said with a pleasant smile. The humanoid only scowled deeply.

"Look, I don't want any trouble," he growled, in a thick accent that Claire couldn't quite catch.

"It's too late for that," Claire said, breathless.

"I have a few questions for you, if you don't mind," she added. When the humanoid didn't reply, Claire took her chance.

"Are you apart of the group that's plotting an attack on the Chancellor, and are smuggling illegal weapons in order to do so?" she asked calmly, not removing her knee. When the humanoid didn't answer right away, Claire sighed. She raised her free hand, and waved it briefly in front of the humanoid's face.

"Answer me," she said gently. It wasn't often that she used Jedi mind tricks on someone. The humanoid's eyes glazed over a second, but he regained himself.

"Why should I tell you?" he snarled. Claire sighed again.

"Because I don't want to have to use force," she replied. The humanoid's face showed a flicker of fear. Claire could see in his eyes that he was imagining the things that this female Jedi could do to him.

"Y-yes," he finally croaked.

"Good," Claire replied with a smile.

"Now, I need to know where, or who, is the leader of this particular group of terrorists," she said. This time the humanoid laughed bitterly.

"I won't tell you that one," he replied.

"I don't want to have to hand you to them," Claire said, and she nodded behind herself. She saw the eyes of the humanoid flicked back to Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon who were standing behind her ominously. He looked back at Claire. She could tell he was now weighing his options.

"Fine," he said, "I'll tell you… they were unfair about everything anyway… just get me up from here."

"That's better," Claire said, and she smiled as she stood, she reached down and pulled up the stout humanoid, who brushed himself off. But he did something that Claire didn't expect. Quite suddenly he reached up and punched Claire square in the nose. Claire cried out, and then doubled over clutching her nose, which was now spurting blood. In an instant Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan were grabbing the humanoid before he had the chance to spring away.

"I guess we will be doing this the hard way," Qui-Gon said as he gripped the humanoid tightly, a fierce look on his usually calm face. Obi-Wan stepped over to Claire when Qui-Gon had the humanoid secured in his grip.

"Here," Obi-Wan said, reaching out.

"I'm fine," Claire said, cringing away from his hand. She straightened, wiping her nose with her sleeve. Obi-Wan was watching her, and to Claire's amazement, he actually looked somewhat concerned. Maybe there was some kindness underneath all that resentment? Claire looked around.

"Let's get out of here," Qui-Gon said, looking at Claire with concern.

The rest of the Jedi's exhibition was quit eventful. After much persuasion, Qui-Gon Jinn was able to get the humanoid to give them the information they needed to know. Claire didn't let herself go near the humanoid for fear of doing something she might regret, since she was now nursing her swollen and at-least-now-not-broken nose back to help. Claire shuddered when she thought about when Obi-Wan Kenobi offered to help her with her nose. Almost reluctantly, Claire let him. And to her surprise/anger, he quickly reached up, grabbed her nose, and twisted it back into place. Claire had screamed loudly in shock and swung her fist at him. Luckily (or unluckily in Claire's case), he dodged her fist.

"I'm only trying to help!" he cried back as Claire recovered, her face contorted in fury, as well as streaked with blood. She firmly believes that he did it on purpose. Now Claire had another reason to hate him.

After Qui-Gon was able to get the info from the humanoid of the whereabouts of the leader of the terrorist group, they were able to set out the next day and look for the perpetrator, which pretty much took all of that day. And when finding it, it was even more eventful. The three of them had strolled into (actually accompanied by a very happy R7) the hideout of the terrorist leader, who was somewhat surprised to be found by three Jedi.

"It takes three Jedi's to find me," the humanoid sneered, looking at the three of them and laughing. But the three Jedi's only smiled, and in a matter of minutes the humanoid was on the ground, his hands tied up, and his bodyguards unconscious on the floor. During those few minutes, Claire had actually taken on quite a few humanoids herself, and in the process, she got punched again, though her nose didn't break that time around (fortunately for her and Obi-Wan, first because Claire didn't want him trying to fix her again, and Obi-Wan didn't actually want to get punched by her that time).

So the Jedi's had successfully completed their mission, and to Claire's relief, the Jedi Council was quite pleased with her.

"I'm sure the Council on Jo'ron will be quite pleased with you as well, Miss Pelatiah, seeing as you have performed exceptionally," Master Windu had told her, smiling a kind smile. Claire bowed humbly, grinning to herself. The council on Jo'ron was likely to vote in favour of her for fixing her Jedi status.

So now, Claire was standing on a departure platform in front of the Jedi temple, her luggage loaded on her flier, R7 beeping madly in the left wing of the flier. He was quite anxious to get home.

"We must thank you again Miss Pelatiah, for assisting us on our small quest here on Coruscant," Qui-Gon Jinn said as Claire closed the hatch to her flier. She turned to him and Obi-Wan who were standing there patiently.

"It was an honour to work with you Master Qui-Gon," Claire said, and she took a respectful bow. When she straightened, she allowed them one of her rare beautiful smiles.

"I hope all goes well for you on Jo'ron," Qui-Gon added.

"Thank you sir… I do too," Claire replied. She thought about what it would be like to go back. She would miss Coruscant.

"And," Qui-Gon added, "I hope you get better as well." He nodded toward her face, and Claire instinctually reached up and rubbed her sore nose with the back of her hand.

"I hope so too…" she mumbled. It was quiet a moment.

"Thank you Master Qui-Gon," Claire said, and she glanced at Obi-wan, "and you too Obi-Wan Kenobi." He nodded curtly, though not as stiffly. Claire regarded this as being somewhat polite. They would never get used to each other. Qui-Gon nodded to Claire as well, and then Claire turned away to get into her flier. As the flier's cockpit opened, Claire gave a graceful leap into the air, and slid into the flier easily. It felt strange to be in the flier and not in the vehicle. But she believed quite firmly that she would be quite used to it after all the flying she did in her violently purple vehicle. Claire glanced at the two Jedi's once more.

"I hope we meet again, Claire Pelatiah," Qui-Gon called up to her. Claire nodded.

"I hope so to…" she whispered to herself. And then the cockpit closed over her.

"Okay R7," she said, "let's get this show on the road." R7 beeped in reply, and Claire pulled the flier up easer than she did on Jo'ron. Claire glanced through the window once more to look down at Qui-Gon Jinn and Obi-Wan Kenobi, who were watching her on the departure platform. Claire nodded at them, and then she turned to look at the sky.

"Let's go R7," she said quietly, and then suddenly the flier sped off through the air, leaving Coruscant and the two Jedi's behind.

Down on Coruscant, Obi-Wan watched the flier zip through the sky toward space. He let out a long sigh, which caused his Master to look over at him.

"You shouldn't think of her that way," Qui-Gon said quietly. Obi-Wan kept his eyes on the sky.

"Think of her like what?" he asked. Hopefully they wouldn't repeat the same conversation over again.

"Like your enemy," Qui-Gon said.

"I don't think of her as my enemy…" Obi-Wan muttered, turning away from the vast blue sky.

"But you still don't like her," Qui-Gon said.

"Please, Master, let's not go over this again. She's a _very_ complicated person, and not to mention, hard to deal with!" Obi-Wan said, looking at his Master, trying not to get frustrated. Qui-Gon was silent a moment. He looked up at the sky, deep in thought. Just as Obi-Wan was about to turn and walk back to the temple, Qui-Gon said one more thing.

"You never know what she might become to you…"


	9. Chapter 9

**{Chapter 9: The Good Life**

**1 Year, 11 Months Later**

**Besond X**

"C'mon R7," Claire Pelatiah said through her teeth, grinding them as her flier rocked dangerously to the left. R7, who wasn't making a sound, was smoking in the left wing of the damaged flier. Space was not an easy thing to deal with when your flier damaged, your droid is smoking from the head, and there were a dozen enemy droids flying at you.

"R7," Claire cried as she dodged another droid in a flier, "c'mon!"

"Pelatiah, you'd better get yourself out of there," a voice came in through Claire's earpiece.

"Hold your horses, Grindon," Claire replied, gritting her teeth and doing a barrel-role through the gap in two droids' ships.

"Claire," another voice came through. Claire smirked.

"Faleur," she said, "how did I know you'd ruin the fun?"

"This isn't a game Claire," Mercado Faleur said. Clair frowned.

"Really?" she asked sarcastically, "I didn't know!" She jerked her flier to the right to avoid debris.

She heard Mercado sigh to himself.

"I know Mercado," Claire mumbled, and she sighed as well. Suddenly, R7 moved his little droid head.

"R7!" Claire cried, and she looked over at him.

"_I'm okay,"_ Claire read the droids words through the screen.

"Well, good, 'cause we gotta get outta here," Claire said back. R7 beeped in response, and he shook his head roughly. Claire dipped the flier downward to avoid one of their fleet ships.

"R7," she said, "now would be a good time to get us outta here!" R7 buzzed and beeped in reply, but Claire didn't see what he said— the flier gave a lurch as a droid crashed right into the back of her it. Claire barely glanced behind her.

"Well that's not good," she said as she saw a fire erupt in the back. Claire faced the front, looking down at the dashboard.

"_Autopilot is out,"_ R7 was saying.

"Well I really don't want autopilot, but thank you for letting me know," Claire replied, and she coughed as an onslaught of smoke filled the cockpit.

"Claire!" Mercado yelled through her earpiece.

"Yeah, a little busy Faleur, I'm kinda on fire over here!" Claire replied angrily.

"Claire, there's three enemy ships coming right at you!" Mercado yelled.

"Wha—?" Clair started, but she was cut short when her head was smashed against the dashboard as something collided with her flier. Claire moaned as she lifted her head, and she saw blood in her vision.

"Not cool," she muttered, and she gripped the steering wheel tightly. Just as she was about to empty her weapons' canon in an attempt to finish off the droids, even if she died trying, another ship abruptly flew into view, blocking her path and firing vigorously at the enemies. Claire registered momentarily that it was Grindon.

"R7 _get us out now!_" Clair screamed hysterically, and R7 beeped in alarm. Claire felt the flier dip, and suddenly it was hurtling like a rocket to Besond X down below them. Claire choked as the smoke continued to collect in the cockpit, clouding her vision. _It's all on you, R7,_ she thought to herself, and she felt the flier fly through the planet's outer atmosphere. Claire could feel her head spinning, the smoke filling her lungs. She couldn't breath, she couldn't see the ground hurtling toward her, and she was beginning to black out.

"_R7,_" she choked, and her head lolled to the side as she finally blacked out. R7, beeping and buzzing in alarm, was still hurling the flier toward Besond X. Mercado's voice, who was still screaming in Claire's earpiece, was beginning to crackle as the smoke filled every inch of the flier. Finally, the flier broke free of the outer atmosphere, and the ground of Besond X was coming straight at them. In a graceful dive, R7 directed the flier hastily toward the docking station where their base was located. R7 beeped shrilly as the base neared, and people on the ground below dodged out of the way. Up above in the sky, another flier was hurling toward them at an even faster speed. R7 hit the ground with the flier roughly, and it bounced lightly. The cockpit suddenly shot open, and the smoke hurled out. A dozen or more men were suddenly dashing at Claire's flier, yelling for help. Two climbed up into the flier, un-strapping Claire from her seat. They pulled her from the flier, coughing through the smoke.

"Pelatiah!" one man yelled, pulling her down and to the ground, where they laid her on the cold concrete. Her head lolled to the side, and her chest was motionless. The guy pulled off her headset, and turned her head to the side.

"Claire," he said, and he shook her. He then pressed two of his hands on her chest, pressing hard, trying to pump her heart back to life. He didn't even look up as another flier suddenly landed roughly on the ground, and another dark-haired guy leapt out at an unnatural height, and was dashing over to Claire.

"Claire!" he cried as he ran toward her. The man attending to Claire reached down, plugged her nose, and then pressed his mouth to her's, breathing in.

"Claire," Mercado Faleur cried as he ran up, falling to his knees and grabbing Claire.

"Claire, you'd better wake up," he said through gritted teeth. He shook her, and then bent his head to her to attempt CPR on her again. But before he could do so, Claire's chest suddenly heaved and her eyes sprang open. She sucked in a deep breath, and then began coughing furiously. Before Mercado could do anything, another man came over.

"We need to take her Master Faleur," he said. Mercado looked up, and nodded. The man reached down and lifted the coughing Claire into his arms. He heaved her on a stretcher, and soon they were off, leaving Mercado on the ground, breathing deeply. That was close.

"Hey, Grindon," Claire called, jogging up behind a man who was stalking down the corridor of the Besond X base. The light-haired man turned, looking shocked.

"Well well well," he said, and a smirk crossed his face, "look who's still alive." Claire shook her head as she stopped in front of him.

"Look Marcus," she said, her voice gentle and sincere, and completely out of character, "I just wanted to thank you… y'know, for saving my skin up there."

"Well somebody has to," Marcus said, and he grinned. Claire grinned back.

"Just remember, Jedi," Marcus said before Claire could depart, "when we tell you to get out of there, get outta there, okay? I don't think I can risk myself again for your dare-devil hide, alright?" Claire smiled.

"Yeah, I'll remember that Grindon," she said. And with one more smile, Claire turned around and left, Marcus shaking his head.

A little ways down the hall, Claire stopped as she saw another familiar face, which was stern and calculating as it came toward her. Mercado, dark-haired and handsome, was striding toward Claire.

"You cut it close there, Pelatiah," Mercado said as he neared Claire, his brown Jedi cloak billowing behind him. Claire's sharp green eyes narrowed defensively.

"Yeah, I know, but I'm alive am I not?" she asked roughly. Mercado stopped in front of her, and he folded his arms in front of him.

"Right you are," he said, his voice cold. He and Claire stared at each other for the longest time, not saying anything. Then suddenly, at the same time, both reached forward and embraced one another like family.

"I'm glad you're okay," Mercado said, "for a moment…" His voice trailed off.

"Yeah... me too…" Claire said. When the two let go, Mercado put his hands on Claire's shoulders.

"How are you?" he asked.

"I'm good…. My throat's a little scratchy, and it hurts to breath in... But I'm okay," Claire replied. Mercado nodded.

"You were out for… what, 2 days?" he said. Claire nodded.

"Yeah… remind me never to go flying with you again," she said, and grinned.

"Or I should remind you to never go flying _ever_," Mercado replied, grinning back. Claire laughed lightly.

"Yeah, I couldn't do that, you know I couldn't," she said. After a moment of silence, Mercado sighed.

"Well, I'm off to go help some of the pilots with your flier," he said, and Claire frowned.

"Ugh, how is it?" she asked. Mercado frowned, not meeting Claire's eyes.

"Not good actually…. You might have to get a new one."

Claire reached up and pinched the bridge of her nose.

"Man…. I've had that flier for… ever," she said quietly.

"I know," Mercado said, "we're doing all we can." Claire released her sensitive nose, looking up.

"Okay, well… I'll see you then," she said. Mercado nodded. Claire turned and walked off in the other direction, feeling slightly put out.

When Claire reached her temporary room, she flipped on the light, and she was met with a bit of a surprise.

"R7!" she cried suddenly, and R7 came zooming at her from across the room. Claire bent down to meet him, and he was beeping madly.

"Hey, how are you?" she asked, and without his consent, she began examining him. He didn't mind, he just beeped happily, obviously overjoyed that Claire was safe. Claire, after examining him, smiled in satisfaction.

"I'm glad you're okay," she said, smiling. R7 beeped. Claire, growing accustomed to R7 beeping and beginning to learn it, smiled weakly.

"I'm fine R7, really," she said, and she patted him.

"For once, I'm happy to be out of the sky," she added. Then she stopped. "Thank you... For getting me out of there. I couldn't have done it without you." R7 made a modest sound, bowing his little droid body slightly as if embarrassed. That made Claire grin even broader. She stood, looking around the room, her hand on her hips. Her room was mostly bare, except for the few suitcases littering the floor in neat, controlled piles. She was quite a neat freak. But she didn't plan on staying on Besond X for too long, considering the fact that they need to get back to Jo'ron for another case coming up. Claire felt another sigh rising in her chest as she thought about Jo'ron. Her complicated situation rose back to her in a quick blur, leaving her with a sickening feeling. She felt like a freak among all the other Jedi's, who were moving up in the world, while she, a simple, lowly, female Jedi was trying to earn her place in the world dominated by the male population— Claire stopped her train of thoughts abruptly. There was absolutely no reason for her to go over this again.

"I mean, look how far you've come in 4 years?" she said out loud, causing R7 to beep in confusion.

"Sorry R7…" she said quickly. He beeped something in reply, but Claire barely caught it.

"Never mind R7… I just need some rest…" she said quietly, and she slunk over to her bed as a wave of depression weighed down on her. She sighed as she pulled the covers over her head, engulfing herself in darkness.


	10. Chapter 10

**{Chapter 10: New Mission**

When Claire awoke, who knows how many hours later, since Besond X had a peculiar sun that didn't seem to set or rise in a particular pattern, it was mainly because R7 was beeping again.

"R7… what?" she asked groggily. R7 beeped again, and it was then that Claire heard a rapping on the door.

"Ugh… who is it?" she said, raising her voice to account for the distance from her bed to the door.

"Miss Claire?" someone asked through the door, and she could tell that they barely opened it.

"Yes?" Claire asked, and she raised her head slightly.

"I'm sorry to bother you, but there's a meeting in the Hall, and they are requesting you now," the man said. Claire let her head fall back to her pillow. _Oh what does the Council want at this time of day? Unless it's quite late… _Claire lifted her head again.

"Alright, I'll be there shortly," she replied. When she heard the door snap shut, Claire heaved herself off the bed, muttering under her breath. She checked her watch, which was set to Jo'ron's time, and it turned out to be just past noon. Claire shook her head and sighed. She walked over to her suitcase, rummaging through the clothes. Soon she found her Jedi garments, and began stripping off her white clothes that she wore from the infirmary. She slipped on her black legging, followed by black Jedi robes that hung about to the top of her thighs. Quickly, she strapped on her black corset-looking belt (literally, it covered her whole stomach, and it basically was a corset), and then she attached her light saber to one end of it. Swiftly, Claire straightened her outfit, and then marched out of her room to head to the Hall.

The Hall consisted of a small round room, much like the Jedi Hall on Jo'ron, where sat 7 chairs. Mercado was the only one in there. At least, the only actually physically there on Besond X. The rest of the Council of Jo'ron were seated there, projected through their holographic images, for they were currently on Jo'ron. Mercado whispered good-morning to Claire, and she smiled weakly in response. Claire stepped up to the middle of the room, and she bowed.

"Forgive me for being late Masters," she said, "I was… busy."

"We heard about your near-fatal experience, Pelatiah," the Jedi in the middle, directly in front of Claire said. Claire nodded at Master Malek.

"Forgive me for my lack of self-preservation as well," she said. This caused many of the Council members to smile at her, including Malek. Claire smiled weakly.

"Well we hope you're feeling up to another case," Malek said, and Claire nodded.

"We've been tracking the droid army that's been crossing the galaxy," Malek continued, and Claire listened with rapt attention. "We believe we know where they'll be heading next."

"Really?" Claire said, interest striking. Just to get to the droids…

"Yes, we've tracked their course and they're heading to Coruscant," Malek answered. Somewhere inside Claire, a pain struck at that name. Coruscant. 2 years ago she was sent there…

"Coruscant…?" Claire asked. The last time they assigned her there, she was outwardly excited. But there was a different feeling this time…

"Yes," Malek said, "you went there two years ago on your mission to fulfill your desire to leave your apprentice status." Claire frowned. She wasn't expecting to have to go back to Coruscant.

"Do… do you require me to go there, Master Malek?" she asked.

"Only if you wish to track down these droids, Pelatiah," Malek answered. Claire pondered this. Coruscant. Big, polluted city planet…Claire refused to let a smug look cross her face.

"Of course, whatever the Council wishes of me," she said. She bowed humbly again.

"As a Jedi knight, I shall do as you wish," she added. She resisted a smile at finally being able to call herself a Jedi knight.

"Good," Malek said, obviously satisfied at Claire's obedience. Claire nodded.

"Is that all you require of me?" she asked.

"Yes," Malek said, and he looked down a moment as if reading something.

"And to let you know, you will have to see the Council there once more before proceeding with your mission…They will have more details of your mission, as expected."  
Claire nodded.

"I will head there as soon as possible," Claire said. Malek nodded.

"Good. May the Force be with you, Pelatiah.

"May the Force be with you, Council," she said. With one last look at them, she stepped away and began to walk out. Only moments later the rest of the Council disappeared. Only Mercado was left. He stood from his seat, and walked over to Claire.

"Coruscant," he said, and Claire stopped.

"Yeah… last time I was there…" Claire let her voice trail. Mercado frowned.

"You up to it?" he asked.

"Yeah… I suppose. I mean, what else can I do?" Claire said. Then she grinned.

"I mean, it totally beats what you have to do here," she said. Mercado suddenly looked smug.

"Don't remind me," he said. Claire shook her head.

"Well I'd better bet moving then… I mean, the sooner I get there the better…" she said. Mercado nodded.

"Are you gonna be okay about it?" Mercado asked, "I mean, I know you don't like the place and all." Claire smiled weakly.

"I'll manage Mercado," she said, "just keep the fortress while I'm gone."

"Will do, Claire." Mercado replied. Claire bowed herself out of the Jedi Hall, Mercado watching her as she left.

Sooner than she thought, Claire was out in space again, in a new flier (to her disappointment, since her flier was still pretty damaged and Mercado was still working on it.

"You ready R7?" Claire asked, and she flipped a few switches as she directed her flier toward the awaiting hyper driver. R7 beeped a happy yes, anxious to be out on another mission. Claire, however, had a different view on her new mission. She was quite confused on how she felt. She remembered quite clearly, how excited she was 2 years previously when she learned that she was going to be going to Coruscant. Now, she wasn't sure how to feel. She wasn't particularly fond of Coruscant and its tall buildings, its constant traffic, and endless cityscape. And the people… Her last mission there consisted of stopping a terrorist group that was trying to murder the Chancellor on Coruscant. How sad. But, as a result of the mission, three months later, Claire was finally issued the rank of a Jedi knight, which she accepted very gladly. So now she was heading to Coruscant on a mission to stop the droid army from reaching them… how fun. She was going to need backup though, which she suspected was going to be sent as soon as she reached Coruscant and sent word back to Jo'ron and Besond X, so they could send their fighters there. Claire sighed again. It seemed like such a mundane mission. Almost as if she'd done it all her life, Claire easily pulled the flier into the hyper driver which was waiting for her and R7 strapped the flier into the hyper driver.

"Okay R7… take her away…" she said, and R7 beeped. Claire yawned, and laid her head back as the stars began to stretch out in front of her, pulling the flier into the temporary lapse of time that sent her and her droid flying through space. Claire barely opened her eyes to see the stars fade into the blackness of space, and she ignored the funny sensation in the pit of her stomach as the flier lurched forward and was brought into the Coruscant system in a matter of minutes. Claire did however, finally open her eyes as Coruscant came into view. And she couldn't help but marvel at the sight. She hadn't seen it in forever, and it still struck that childish curiosity on the inside of her as she gazed at the city planet.

"Hm… R7, do you miss Coruscant?" Claire asked as the flier drifted toward the planet, unable to use the hyper driver because of the distance between them and the planet. Claire looked down to read R7's response.

"_It's mixed feelings,"_ said R7. Claire smiled.  
"Exactly how I feel," she muttered. She looked out across the space, and sighed. She didn't know what to expect on Coruscant.

"_Do you remember the last time we were here?"_ R7 asked. Claire frowned.

"I try not to. It's been a long while…" she said. Truthfully though, she didn't want to recall it. She refused to let her mind wander back to it. All she remembered involuntarily was getting her nose broken. That was quite unpleasant to think about. R7 must've sensed her reluctance to think about their harrowing adventure at Coruscant two years previously, for he didn't say anything. The next few minutes to Coruscant was silent, which gave Claire a lot of time to clear her mind and allow the Force to fill her. When she opened her eyes again, it was when she felt the flier slowing down. She leaned forward, hitting a few buttons. Without having to be told, R7 began to the swift process of detaching the flier from the hyper driver. Within seconds the flier was free from the contraption, and Claire felt the flier slide into empty space once more. Almost yawning, Claire tapped a few more buttons, and then they were off, speeding toward the city planet.

"Okay, get us in there safely, R7," Claire said quietly, and she gripped the steering wheel as the flier collided with the planet's atmosphere, and Claire felt it jerk slightly at the new pressure. Clouds blinded Claire's visual perception of the planet now, and it was like looking through whitened glass. Claire squinted, trying to see through the clouds.

"Blast, I can't see a thing," Claire muttered, "R7; let me know if we're getting close to something that's remotely dangerous, okay?" R7 beeped in response, sounding anxious. Claire let the droid take the wheel a moment as she tried to peer through the windows. She could tell it was definitely daylight here, since the sun was shining across that side of the planet. R7 beeped, and Claire looked at the dashboard.

"_We're coming up to a break in the clouds," _he said. Claire sighed.

"Good," she said, and she took back control of the flier. Seconds later, the flier pelted through the clouds, and Claire saw the planet in bright daylight. But before she had a chance to gaze over the planet, something was suddenly coming at her from the side, and Claire yelled out as something streaked past her.

"What the h—" she started, but she had to dodge another vehicle flying at her.

"Ugh, thanks for the warning R7," she said bitterly, and she gripped the steering wheel tighter. R7 beeped apologetically, and Claire moved out of traffic space to avoid more oncoming fliers that were leaving Coruscant. Finally, Claire looked out across the planet briefly. It was morning, as far as she could tell, and the sun was shining brightly through what clouds weren't obscuring it. And, as before, thousand upon thousands of vehicles were soaring through the air, and Claire couldn't help but feel awed once more.

"Man…" she whispered, "it's been a long time…" Claire directed her flier toward the city below, and she recognized that she was in the same place that she came in before at, so she knew exactly how to get to the Jedi Temple. Claire allowed herself a smile as she directed the flier downward, speeding toward the city. She was back. Even though she didn't want to be. _And y'know,_ she thought to herself, _it's not that bad._


	11. Chapter 11

**{Chapter 11: Old enemies**

**Coruscant**

Claire landed her flier safely on the platform beneath her. She turned to R7 before she got out.

"I know you're gonna hate me for this, but I'm telling you anyway. I have to buy a vehicle. Okay?" she said point-blank. R7 beeped something that soundly oddly rude. Claire's face dropped.

"R7, don't get rude. You can stay with the flier. Maybe when I start my mission you can tag along somehow, alright? Otherwise, you're sticking with the flier." R7 beeped bitterly, and Claire rolled her eyes as she hopped out of the flier. R7 stayed inside it, still beeping to himself. Checking to make sure her light saber was still attached safely to her belt, Claire set out across the platform, heading toward the small complex in front of her.

Inside, Claire was met by a stout alien, with smooth red skin and deep yellow eyes. He smiled pleasantly at her, showing his pointy teeth.

"How I help you?" he asked, his English bad.

"Yes, I need to rent a vehicle…" Claire said, and she reached into her bag that she had thrown over her shoulder.

"And I want a nice working one, okay?" she added looking up at him and giving him a hard stare. It worked. The alien barely glanced back at her when he turned around, realizing that she was in fact a Jedi.

"Right this way," he said, bustling along and shoving a few tables away. Claire followed him, her hand close to her side, in case she needed to reach her light saber. He led to a back door, where they walked back out into bright sunshine. Lines of vehicles lined the sides of the platform, and Claire glanced at them. The alien walked over to a dark red vehicle, and gestured toward it. Claire looked at it in interest.

"You like?"

"Nice," she said, and she walked over to it. "How much?" she asked. When the alien named the price, Claire frowned.

"Anything cheaper?" she asked.

"Thees smaller ones, the cheaper," the alien said, and he nodded toward a row of funny-coloured vehicles. Claire raised her eyebrows at them. When the alien nodded toward a purple one, Claire shook her head roughly.

"No, definitely not," she said. She looked around, and then one caught her eye.

"How about that one?" she asked, and she nodded toward a very shiny black one. The alien broke into a wide grin.

"That one, not so nice," he said, and he laughed. "It too fast for you, even for Jedi. Hard to control." Claire grinned.

"I like fast, and I like a challenge," she said. The alien looked bewildered. When he named the price, Claire grinned broader.

"Now we're talkin'," she said, and she walked over to the black vehicle. She ran her hand along the side, and then she jumped in gracefully. She smiled as she felt it, and it felt perfect.

"I'll take it," she said, and swiftly she pulled out some money. After paying the very happy alien, Claire smiled as she revved the engine.

"This thing better work," she muttered, and she felt the engine roar to life, It lifted off the ground, hovering slightly. It moved at her slightest touch, which, Claire realized, was what made it hard to control. But Claire had good experience with control. In an instant, she was in the air, and heading around to the opposite side of the complex where R7 and her flier was.

Pretty soon, Claire was off again, speeding through the air, and missing R7. He was quite grumpy now, but Claire knew he would get over it. She made him find a place to rent for the night, until she could request possible accommodation from the Jedi Council. Claire gazed out through the traffic, feeling more comfortable than she did last time she was here. Even though the traffic terribly heavy, Claire still felt like smiling as she glided through the air toward her destination, the Jedi Temple. After a few minutes though, Claire started to feel as though something was wrong.

"Oh, you're joking," she said, looking around the side of the vehicle. It was beginning to sputter dangerously, and it was slowing down.

"Oh I'm going to _kill_ these foreign people," she muttered darkly, and she looked up. The Jedi Temple wasn't far. Claire muttered something unintelligible under her breath.

"Now is when I _really_ need R7…" she said, and she pulled the vehicle out of the traffic that was honking loudly at her. Still muttering darkly about the people of Coruscant, Claire pulled the vehicle up toward a platform above her. When she got the vehicle up to the side of the platform, she un-strapped herself from the seat, and she hopped out onto solid ground. It was a particularly high platform, and Claire could see across quite a distance from her point of view. In fact, she could see the Jedi Temple from there. Tearing her eyes away from the almost terrifying view from being so high up, Claire glance around. It was remotely empty, the platform she was on. Claire sighed, and then turned around to face the drop-off. _I could signal someone…_ she thought to herself. Just when she was about to somehow signal someone who might be generous enough to help, Claire turned sharply as she sensed someone behind her. There, at the end of the platform, was a very small creature of some sort.

"Hey," Claire called, and she waved at the creature. It stared at her a second, before it made its way toward her, wobbling, as Claire thought, like a penguin.

"Hello," she said when the little thing reached her, "I hope I'm not bothering you, but my vehicle," and she gestured toward her sleek black vehicle that was currently not working. The little creature looked at Claire wordlessly, then at her vehicle. Then, to Claire's surprise, he rolled his eyes, grunted something, and then walked over to her vehicle was parked in mid-air, balancing on the gravity of the platform. He kicked open the front of it, and got his little body inside. There a moment of scraping sounds, and then something was chucked out of the hood. Claire simply watched without saying anything, though she was itching to ask whether this thing was fixing her car, or tearing it apart. But soon enough, the little creature climbed out of the vehicle, and then stepped back onto the platform after shutting the hood.

"Er, thanks," Claire said, and she walked over to the vehicle cautiously. She looked down at the little creature.

"How much… do you want?" she asked precariously. The little creature suddenly shook his head and waved his hand impatiently. And then he turned and walked back to the other side of the platform where Claire noticed a small little vehicle.

"Oh, um, okay then," Claire said, and she shrugged, "thanks again then." And with that she turned and hopped back into her vehicle. She revved the engine, which, to Claire continuous surprise, roared to life just perfectly. Claire smiled with satisfaction, and then she pulled the vehicle back down below the platform. She started to move the vehicle forward, when she sensed something wrong. Frowning, Claire looked down. And what she saw made her gasp in fury. Her light saber, which was just previously strapped securely to her belt, was gone. And, so was her bag.

"That little—" Claire started, and she let out a cry of fury. Without even bothering to bring her vehicle back up, Claire suddenly leaped into the air and miraculously grabbed the side of the platform and heaved herself up.

"HEY!" Claire yelled as she took notice of the little creature who was still there. The little creature abruptly looked up at her yell. And he saw her furious face.

"How _dare_ you take my things!" she cried, and she rolled up her sleeves. Now was the time to use the Force. But before she had a chance to do anything, a yell came from behind her.

"Reijon!" Claire didn't even turn to see who yelled. Responding to his name, the little creature yelped loudly, and an obvious expression of fear crossed his face. In an instant he was straddling his vehicle, and then he threw something. Claire dashed over to the creature, but before she could grab him, he was off, speeding away.

"Blast!" Claire yelled. But when she looked down to see what the creature threw, she let out a sigh of relief. There was her light saber and bag, on the ground. As she was bending to get her things, he heard the voice again.

"Sorry about him," a male voice said, "he really likes to take things from people… but he should definitely know better." Claire quickly stood.

"Yeah, he should," she said as she turned. And who she saw suddenly caused her to whip out her light saber in defense.

"_You?_" Claire and Obi-Wan Kenobi cried simultaneously. A sudden onslaught of memories from two years previously overwhelmed Claire. She almost forgot this guy. The young Jedi must've sensed her sudden action because his light saber was out and ready as well.

"What," Claire said harshly, "are you doing here?"

"I could ask the same of you," Obi-Wan replied, his voice calm yet authoritative. Claire didn't remove her light saber, and neither did he.

"It's been a while, Pelatiah," Obi-Wan said, and Claire noticed something of a smirk cross his face. Claire didn't even smirk back.

"Yes," she said back, "quite a while." And with that, she lowed her light saber, as did Obi-Wan. They stared at each other briefly, before Claire turned away. Then, taking a risk, and trying to prove herself, she abruptly swung around and brought her light saber up in an arc. And to her semi-surprise, Obi-Wan met her's at the perfect second. Claire made a slight tutting sound. Obi-Wan didn't say a word. Taking a step to the side, Claire mimicked the Jedi's movements. Now a smile was beginning to play at the corners of her mouth.

"You know, for some reason I've always wanted to do this," she said.

"I only wish I could say the same," Obi-wan replied coolly. Claire smile vanished. In a swift gracefully movement, she swung her light saber up, moving his out of the way and trying to catch him off guard. But he seemed to know her every move. He blocked her saber before she had the chance. Without another exchange of words, Claire again performed a move, which Obi-Wan blocked professionally. Claire felt a fleeting sense of impression, but she ignored it and struck again. This time, Obi-Wan not only blocked her move, but he brought his light saber around and attempted to strike Claire himself. Claire avoided it, but barely. Obi-Wan noticed this and came around again. Claire stumbled slightly, but regained her balance quickly, and the two were face to face again. In the back of her mind, Claire was still registering the fact that she was seeing her arch rival again. After two years. At this, Claire realized that she wasn't focusing because of her frustration with this guy. But she didn't have _time_ to let the Force fill her. So Claire went on instinct and she struck again. Again, Obi-Wan blocked her perfectly, though he didn't come at her. _He's playing with me,_ Claire thought barely, _he knows I'm frustrated at that weakens my connection with the Force…_ Claire gripped her light saber tighter, knowing she'd have to make a stronger move. Stronger than him. Bracing herself, Claire took aim and swung once more. This time, Obi-Wan was slightly off, taken aback by her force, but he recovered quickly and he came at her once more. This time, however, Claire wasn't so fortunate. The Jedi's saber came at her, and Claire backed away at the split second, and she felt its heat on her face. If this was a real battle, he would've sliced her face right off. At her sudden movement, Claire got caught in her own feet and she cried out as she fell back onto the platform, realizing that her rival had beaten her fair and square. And she hadn't even seen him but over five minutes. Obi-Wan looked down at her, and Claire looked up at him, her eyes full of fury as well as shock at her own defeat. For a moment, Clare could've sworn she saw a bit of pity in the Jedi's eyes. But with a small click of his tongue, Obi-Wan turned away. Claire watched him walk away. For a split second, Claire considered giving it up. Letting him win. But suddenly the conversation between him and his master abruptly flooded her brain. _"She's incompetent… I think she's rude and uncaring. She didn't get the better of me, she caught me off guard."_ Claire felt the same numb feeling in her chest as she did when she heard that the first time, as though he had said it all over again. And watching him walk off, after defeating her in a small duel, only increased the feeling. Claire clenched her fists. She wasn't going to let him walk away. With a surge of frustration, Claire pulled herself up. Without even registering what she was doing, Claire launched herself at Obi-Wan. He barely had the chance to glance behind himself before Claire was at him. She leapt at him, tackling him to the ground like a cat. He did though, cry out in shock. But Claire toppled over him, and they both fell to the ground. Before Obi-Wan knew it, Claire had him on his back, and she was over top him, practically sitting on his chest. She had a fierce look on her face as she stared him down, obviously showing that she wasn't entirely defeated. Obi-Wan simply stared at her in shock. A malevolent smile spread across Claire's face as her light saber slowly extended right in front of Obi-Wan, inches from his face. She didn't have to say a word. He knew she wasn't going without a right to victory. But, as Claire stared him down, she briefly registered that she never really saw this guy up close. He had brilliant blue eyes, and pale skin. And short brown hair, which Claire did notice was a bit thicker and longer than the last time she saw him. A sudden thought occurred to Claire; he was utterly handso— but Claire didn't finish that thought. A second too late, she realized that she had been on him longer than intended. In a swift motion, Claire stood, releasing Obi-Wan from her grasp. She looked as though she was conflicting against something in her mind. Claire watched as Obi-Wan pulled himself up, looking quite disheveled, and still slightly shocked. Claire didn't give him a chance to say anything.

"Hopefully we won't see each other again, Kenobi," she said quietly, "I might not be so lenient next time." With one more flash of a smile, Claire turned around and walked over to the edge of the platform. Without a final look, Claire abruptly walked off the edge of the platform, causing Obi-Wan to cry out in alarm. But before he could do anything, a sleek black vehicle suddenly came flying up from below the platform, and it zoomed off, leaving Obi-Wan to his confused and frustrated thoughts.


	12. Chapter 12

**{Chapter 12: Partners**

Without further a due, Claire jumped out of her vehicle, which was now running smoothly (_at least that little creature did _something_ right…)_, and landed on the hard solid ground in front of the Jedi temple. Claire took a moment to glace up at the tall building in admiration. It had been a while since she had seen the place. It was still just as tall, and tan-coloured like many of the other buildings around, and it looked magnificent in the morning light. Turning away from the building, Claire pulled out a small device from her pocket. She clicked a button on it, and then waited. Seconds later, Claire heard R7 beep on the other end.

"R7," she said. R7 beeped back, sounding very much calmer than he did when Claire last spoke to him.

"Hey, you're not mad at me still I see?" she said, grinning. R7 beeped something that sounded vaguely sarcastic.

"I need you to do me a favour R7," Claire added. "Can you call up Mercado and tell him to alert the Jedi Council here that I _am _coming. I don't want to walk in there and there be no one…" R7 buzzed in reply, and Claire frowned in response.

"They already know?" she asked. R7 beeped back, and Claire shrugged.

"Well okay, if they're already ready for a meeting with someone else, I'm sure they won't mind me dropping in." R7 said something else, and Claire smiled.

"Okay R7," she said, "I gotta go. I'll call back soon, when I get lodging." With that, Claire closed the device and stored it in her pocket. Claire let out a long sigh, and then she turned back to the temple. She looked back up at it, and then she made her way to the entrance of the Jedi temple. It felt kind of strange, walking up to the Jedi temple by herself, when the last time she was accompanied by none other than a Jedi Master himself. But now Claire had to rely on pure memory in order to get to where she knew she needed to go. _I really do hope that they know that I'm coming, _Claire thought to herself as she entered the temple, which automatically blocked out the noise of the city outside. The inside of the temple was just as Claire remembered it. It was light-coloured like the outside, with large windows that showed the city with its speeding vehicles.

Claire walked deliberately down the halls, taking in the look of the temple once more.

Before long, she found herself at the entrance to the Jedi Hall, where she knew the Jedi Masters were waiting. Boy did this feel like a déjà-vu. Claire stood outside the door, briefly recalling how she felt the last time she stood in front of this exact door. She was nervous out of her skull, being a young Jedi, and she was very unsure of herself and how to face these Jedi masters. But now, she wasn't nervous, knowing she had faced these Jedi's before, and she was much more trained in the ways of the Force, and she had a calm sensation spreading through her. It was going to be a piece of cake. Walk in, present herself, announce the coming of the droid army, and also announce that she was taking the job to stop the droid army. Claire smiled loosely to herself, and then she wiped the expression on her face, readjusted her black robes and corset-belt, and then she bravely walked into the Jedi Master's Hall.

The inside was, of course, exactly as Claire remembered it. It was large and round, and brightly lit, especially because of the brightness of the morning light sifting in through the large windows. The seats were still situation in a circle around the room, and a particular patch of darkened floor was still in the core of the room indicating the place for the required person. Claire stopped just inside the room, and when the eyes of the Jedi turned to her, she bowed humbly before them.

"Forgive me for arriving uninvited—" she started, but the dark Jedi in the center of the row of chairs held up a hand.

"No, we've been informed of your arrival by a Master Faleur," Master Mace Windu said. Claire stared at him for a moment, and then she nodded her head. She walked to the center of the room, taking a moment to glance around at the Jedi Master's present. Most were missing, obviously proving that this meeting was just recently brought together.

"I hope I'm not interrupting in any sort of way, I don't wish to cause any trouble," Claire said, facing Master Windu again.

"I understand," Windu said, "but we know this is important as well."

"Good…" Claire said quietly. "Well, as you may already know, a droid army is in fact heading straight for Coruscant… we believe that the Sith Lord has sent them here for the destruction of the Imperial City." Windu simply looked at Claire blankly.

"Yes, we are aware of that," he finally said. Claire nodded again.

"Well then I'm here to inform you that the headquarters of our base stationed on Besond X have sent me to help bring an end to the droid army's plan, as long as I can formulate of group to help me… And I can do so by getting the permission of the Jedi council so troops can be sent here to aid me as well as the Imperial city," Claire explained. Mace Windu looked quite amused at Claire's request. Claire waited for their answer, unsure of their response.

"If permission you want," a small voice said, and Claire looked at the small Jedi Master next to Master Windu, whom she recognized once more as Master Yoda, "then permission you have." Claire smiled barely at him, feeling very grateful.

"We would be most acceptable to have your base on Besond X to intervene on the city's behalf," Master Windu finally said, and a wave of relief washed over Claire. For a moment she believed that they might decline to her request, which would have been quite bad.

"Thank you Jedi Council," Claire said, and she couldn't help but smile as she bowed humbly before the Jedi Masters.

"I'm sure my Masters on Besond X will be greatly pleased at your acceptance to give us permission to—er— infiltrate your city," Claire added as she straightened, smiling again at the corner of her mouth. Master Windu inclined his head in response. Claire was just about to turn away when a voice suddenly spoke.

"Though, request of you we have for you and your Masters," Yoda said, causing Claire to stop and turn back.

"Yes, of course," Claire said, and she looked at the small Jedi Master expectantly.

"Help you will need on your mission, yes," Yoda said, "another Jedi I recommend." Claire cocked her head to the side. For a moment she figured she might ask Mercado to join her.

"One of our Jedi's if it pleases you," Yoda added, and he gave Claire a peculiar look. Claire had the distinct feeling that he knew she wanted to ask Mercado Faleur.

"Of course, whatever you require," she said, and she smiled gently.

"We requested counsel of him, so he— ah, here he is now," Master Ki-Adi Mundi, who sat on the right of Yoda, began, and a bit of a relieved smile crossed his face.

"Forgive me for being late, Council," a familiar voice spoke, but it stopped when Claire whipped around to see who it belonged too. Her eyes were wide in shock as Obi-Wan Kenobi stopped dead in his tracks at the site of Claire Pelatiah. He obviously did not expect her to be there. Claire mouthed silently to him, "_you?_" He simply stared at her wordlessly, too shocked to say anything. Luckily, Master Windu cut in.

"Welcome, Young Obi-Wan," he said, and he nodded to Obi-Wan, who's eyes finally moved past Claire and onto the Jedi Master behind her. Claire turned back to the Jedi Council, still at a loss for words.

"I know you two have already met, and you've even worked a case two years ago together, so I know it wouldn't be a problem for Obi-Wan to be the one to join you on you and your base's mission. We've shared most of the details with Kenobi, but I'm sure you will be quite efficient to explain the rest to him, Young Pelatiah," Master Ki-Adi Mundi said, and he smiled an innocent smile at Claire. Claire forced a smile back, trying to fool them into thinking having Obi-Wan Kenobi on her team was perfectly alright.

"Yes Master's," she said, her voice tight, and she bowed as smoothly as she could.

"Master Windu— Master Yoda—" Obi-Wan started, stammering, "are you sure—? Am I qualified—?"

"Yes, we believe you are quite capable," Windu said, and he suddenly gave Obi-Wan a look that momentarily reminded Claire of Mercado when he gave Claire an order he knew she didn't want to fulfill. "But— what about—" Obi-Wan added.

"Fine, young Skywalker will be," Yoda said, "go along with you here on Coruscant he can."

That shut Obi-Wan up, and he refused to look at Claire. Claire, however, was eyeing Obi-Wan with constrained fury.

"Then I will alert my Master's on Besond X of your decision. I'm sure they will be—" she stopped to glance briefly at Obi-Wan, "most—er—pleased."

"Good," Master Windu said, "I really hope you both can work this out."

"We will do our best Master Windu," Claire replied, and she bowed again.

"May the Force be with you," Windu added.

"May the Force be with you," Claire replied, and with that she turned away. Obi-Wan muttered the same line, and he too bowed slightly before turning on his heel and walking out behind Claire.

When outside the door to the Jedi Hall entrance, Claire suddenly rounded on Obi-Wan, who stopped in his tracks.

"No, no, no, _no_," Claire said menacingly to him, her eyes full of unexplainable fury. He looked just as furious.

"I didn't ask for this," he said, his voice calm, which furthered Claire's frustration.

"Well neither did I," Claire replied harshly, "I'm not doing this."

"What, are you going to go in there and tell them you refuse?" Obi-Wan said, gesturing toward the Jedi Hall.

"No, I'm not," Claire snapped, "I would look thick!" Obi-Wan stayed quiet a moment.

"Well you should've thought of that before you came here," he finally said, his tone icy.

"I don't want this any more than you do!" Claire hissed, pointing a menacing finger at the young Jedi, trying to control her scalding fury. Obi-Wan clenched his fists, straightening up in his own fury.

"Then why did you come here?" he asked.

"To save this pitiful planet, and the Jedi Council here, that's why!" Claire answered darkly. Obi-Wan stared at her hard for a moment.

"Well then I'll be sure not to get in you're way, then," he said calmly, and then he attempted to walk past Claire.

"You know I can't do this on my own, they'll know you aren't helping!" Claire hissed after him, following him.

"So are you accepting me onto you're mission?" Obi-Wan asked, turning around and smirking quite unpleasantly at Claire. Claire clenched her fists.

"I have no other choice," she replied harshly, "believe me; I would rather have my own previous Master, and friend, Mercado Faleur, here with me. But Master Yoda assigned _you_." And with that, she stalked off, leaving Obi-Wan to watch her leave, trying to get his frustration to ebb away.

"Look, I don't like this either," Claire said, and she pinched the bridge of her nose. Then she looked back at the holographic image of Mercado. Claire was currently outside the Jedi temple, relaying what happened back in the temple. She had called R7 to meet here there, so she could transmit through him to Besond X.

"Things are getting antsy here though," Mercado said thoughtfully, and he looked around.

"I wish you could be here…" Claire muttered.

"I know Claire," Mercado said, "but you'll be fine. We'll be sending a group of fighters. They should arrive tomorrow."

"Is Grindon coming?" Claire asked quietly.

"Yeah, I've got him in to come," Mercado said. Claire nodded.

"Good… I'll need a familiar face…" she muttered.

"Don't worry Claire. This will all be over. You're the best out there when it comes to droids," Mercado said, and he grinned.

"You're the best, Mercado, I got it all from you," Claire said, and she grinned back Mercado shrugged modestly.

"Well I should go…" Claire said after a moment of silence, "I gotta find some place to sleep…"

"Okay," Mercado said, and he smiled weakly, "don't let them Jedi's get you down." Claire nodded in response. And then the hologram faded away. Claire bit her lip nervously. She looked over at R7, thinking.

"D'you think I should've told him about Kenobi?" she asked quietly. R7 beeped something, and Claire sighed.

"Yeah… I know... I shouldn't get worked up about him like this. He just…" Claire stopped and placed a hand to her forehead. "He really gets to me." With a flustered sigh, Claire ordered R7 into the wing of the flier.

"Follow me," she said, "I'll try and find someplace to stay for the night." R7 beeped something, and Claire frowned.

"You know of a place?" she asked curiously.

"Alright then," Claire said, unsure about it, but she leapt into the front seat of her shiny black vehicle anyway.

"Lead the way, R7," she said, and she fired up the engine.

Back in the Jedi Council's room, Master Windu sighed to himself. All those who were not physically present in the session had left, leaving Windu, Yoda, Ki-Adi Mundi, and one other there.

"Still, even after two years, she seems unsure of herself," Master Ki-Adi Mundi said quietly.

"Darkness clouds her future still," Yoda said just as quietly, and Master Windu looked over at him. He suddenly looked very tired.

"An upset in the balance of the Force around her, I sense in the future..." he added, and he lowered his head. "Strike, tragedy will…" Master Windu looked back up at the door where Claire had left out of, thinking deeply. Not even Yoda knew of what he could sense. So what faced Claire Pelatiah, no one knew.


	13. Chapter 13

**{Chapter 13: The Apprentice**

Sunlight sifted through the narrow shades, striking the small room and illuminating the dark carpet and furniture. Claire opened her eyes slowly, feeling the heat of the sun rays fall across her tired face. It was the next day, and she was exhausted. For a moment, though, she was quite peaceful. She wasn't thinking about the Jedi's, the droid army that was coming to potentially annihilate Coruscant, or the dreaded Obi-Wan Kenobi, whom Claire only wish could disappear off the face of the planet just so she could complete her mission without needed the pressure of dealing with _him._ But Claire's serene moment only lasted a second. Before long, she was pulling herself out of her rather uncomfortable bed, pulling on her Jedi garb, all the while muttering inarticulately under her breath, nonsense about Obi-Wan and the new mission.

"C'mon R7," Claire finally said coherently, yawning largely. She nudged R7, who was still attached to the wall. He grunted to himself, and then slowly pulled himself off the wall. Claire waited for him to get himself detached before continuing out.

"I hope we find better living quarters," Clare muttered as the pair of them headed out of their temporary living quarters. The whole of the previous day consisted of Claire finding a place to stay for the night, and then brooding over a drink at a local bar to keep herself occupied as she thought about her mission. She wasn't expecting a partner. Excluding Mercado, Claire worked alone. And she preferred it that way. But now not only did she have a partner, a _Jedi_ partner, it had to be the one person she couldn't stand. _Why couldn't they just give me Mercado?_

Claire trudged out of the complex that her room was in, bright sunshine hitting her face. She squinted in the light, sighing to herself. It was going to be a long day. The weather was fair though, mixed with the noises of the city that seemed to never sleep.

"Think we should go to the Jedi temple; see if what's-his-face is ready?" Claire asked R7 as he wheeled himself outside after his master. R7 beeped something, and Claire scowled.

"Don't give me that today, R7," she muttered, "you know how frustrated I am with that guy." Claire walked away, muttering under her breath, and R7 caught a few words like "arrogant" and "selfish". Claire walked up to her vehicle, and she hopped in. When R7 rolled up beside the vehicle, Claire looked down at him.

"R7…" she started, but she looked at him, then at the seat next to her. It was quite large enough. And she _could_ use the company. Claire rolled her eyes.

"Fine, get in," she growled, and R7 beeped happily. He abruptly turned on his booster, which lifted him off the ground in a jet of fire, and he heaved himself into the passenger side of the vehicle.

"Hey, watch the seats," Claire said, but she grinned anyway. R7 continued to beep happy nonsense, and Claire took it as a good sign. In a matter of moments, she had the vehicle in the air, leaving the complex and her flier behind.

It didn't take long to reach the Jedi Temple. Claire was up and out of her vehicle, followed by a very joyous R7, and she was locking her vehicle for safe measure. Claire looked around briefly, then she turned to R7.

"Ok, we're going to go inside. I want to try and find a Master, maybe I can mention the living quarters… and, I'll want to contact Mercado to make sure they're sending the fighters today or not," she said. R7 beeped in response.

"Okay, good," Claire said, and she smiled in satisfaction, and then she turned away to walk toward the Temple. The inside was cool and shady, which Claire found to be considerably more comfortable than outside. Now that Claire actually wasn't in a rush to go straight to the Jedi Council, she actually let herself look around the place. It was very large, with high ceilings and magnificent architecture. Claire gazed around at the building, taking in all the detail. She let herself wander through the halls, and she even gasped as she saw the massive library. Claire gazed around it.

"They don't have this on Jo'ron…" she said softly. R7 beeped delicately in reply. Claire wandered into the library, taking notice of the many different books, audios, holograms, and digital information logs. As Claire walked through the lines of books and digital information logs, she saw none other than Master Ki-Adi Mundi, who was inspecting a hologram only a few rows away. Claire smiled in satisfaction. Curiosity had its benefits.

"Master Mundi," Claire said when she was in safe earshot of the Jedi Master. The Jedi Master looked up curiously, and then he smiled at the sight of Claire.

"Young Pelatiah," he said gently. Claire bowed humbly, still smiling.

"I'm glad I've found you," she said, "I've been meaning to ask the Jedi Council something, but I suppose you can help me.

"Go on," Master Mundi said, placing down the holographic projector.

"The living accommodations that I found," Claire began, and he smile faded into a furrowed brow of concern, "well, I can't seem to find anything suitable. Forgive me for being picky, but is there any place reserved for Jedi?" Master Mundi smiled, which sent a wave of relief through Claire.

"You're in luck Miss Pelatiah," he said, "in fact there is. Over near the Lison District, only a couple miles from here, there is a complex of buildings that are essentially suitable for Jedi. But," he continued, "if you would prefer to stay here, there are guest room, seeing as you are a guest, and I'm sure your people from Besond X would like nice accommodations of their own." Claire blinked in surprise.

"So I _can_ stay here then?" she asked.

"If you would prefer, yes," Mundi replied. Claire smiled gently once more.

"That would be quite nice. Thank you Master," she said, and she bowed slightly.

"I am glad I could help," Mundi replied.

"C'mon R7," Claire said, and she motioned toward the door for the droid.

"Thank you again Master Mundi," Claire said, and then she walked away, with R7 tailing her. Claire walked out of the library, looking both ways before heading back out to the entrance to the temple. She hadn't gone 5 meters from the library when someone called her name harshly.

"Pelatiah!"

Claire turned, recognizing the voice. Claire felt a surge of ice in the pit of her stomach, but she was unable to keep it out of her voice.

"Here, are you?" Claire asked Obi-Wan Kenobi as he walked up to Claire, his face obviously showing the same feeling Claire had. He ignored her comment with ease.

"I was just wondering when you'd show up," he said, and Claire held her hand out to stop R7, who turned to look at Obi-Wan. He beeped something, but Claire ignored him.

"Well, here I am," Claire said, and she plastered on a fake smile. Obi-Wan didn't smile back.

"I was also wondering when your fighters would be arriving," he said, and Claire noted obvious coldness in his voice, "seeing as I would expect them to have arrived by now." Claire didn't let her frustration show in her face.

"Well, I'm sure things are tight over on Besond X, dealing with all the droids and everything," she said as calmly as she could. _Let the Force fill you_, Claire thought for a split second.

"In fact, I was going to contact Master Faleur as soon as I could—" but Claire was interrupted by R7 beeping suddenly. Claire looked down at him, and he nudged Claire in the side, still beeping. Obi-Wan looked over at R7 as well, looking curious.

"Not now R7," Claire muttered, and she turned back to Obi-Wan. Before she could say anything else, R7 beeped even louder, and he nudged Claire harder.

"R7, I said not _now_," Claire said through her teeth, feeling her face flush. But R7 continued his erratic beeping.

"I think he has a message for you," Obi-Wan said, and for a moment Claire registered that there wasn't any tone of ice in his voice at all. Almost reluctantly, for the sake of not wanting to listen to Obi-Wan, Claire reached down and pushed a button on R7. R7's little antennae disk popped out of his head, and it swiveled on its spot. Obi-Wan and Claire watched with interest as a holographic image appeared in front of them.

"Well, speak of the devil," Claire suddenly said, her tone cleared of her usual iciness and she knelt to get a better look at the hologram. It was Mercado.

"Claire," Mercado said, "where are you?"

"I'm on Coruscant Mercado, I've been here since yesterday," she said, "I told you." Mercado sighed, and he brought a hand to his face.

"Yeah… Sorry… I know I called yesterday…. things have been crazy here… more droids came this morning," he said. Claire blanched.

"Really?" she asked, concern filling her voice, "oh blast, I should be there—" but Mercado stopped her.

"No, Claire, you're where you're supposed to be. We got it here." Claire reached up and ran a hand through her hair.

"The fighters," Claire asked quietly.

"We're sending them out very soon," Mercado said, "Grindon's okay, so he's still coming. Now that we got the droids taken care of here, we can finally send them."

"Okay…" Claire said.

"We'll have more info on the droid army coming your way, when the fighters get there. You'll get everything you need from them," Mercado said. Claire nodded.

"I gotta go Claire," Mercado said, and he looked around at something, "take care."

"You too Mercado," Claire said. "May the Force be with you."

"May the Force be with you," Mercado said, and then the hologram disappeared. Claire straightened. She turned back to Obi-Wan, who was silent, and Claire didn't look at him.

"Well that explains where my fighters are then," she said.

"How many droids were there?" Obi-Wan asked, and Claire looked up at him finally. There was genuine concern on his face.

"There were two hundred ships the day before yesterday. Who knows how many there were this morning…" Claire answered. She looked back down at R7, who was quiet.

"Well," Claire said, and the silence was deafening for a moment. "They should be arriving soon. I should go wait for them." But before Claire could turn away, there was a suddenly crashing sound to the right of them, someone yelling, and then all of a sudden something came flying at them. Claire ducked, and luckily it missed by a long shot, though R7 got full blast of it. He started screaming in his little droid voice, which consisted of loud, elongated beeping, and Claire looked up to see a small robotic creature dangling from R7's head. He was still screaming as Claire came to his rescue, trying to pry the little robot thing off. Claire stared at the thing, and just as she was about to chuck the thing away, a voice cried out.

"Wait wait!" a small voice cried, and Claire whipped around, as did Obi-Wan, the little robot swinging in Claire's grasp. A young boy came running up, looking horrified at the sight of Claire about to dispose of the robot.

"Wait," the boy said, out of breath. Suddenly Obi-Wan looked furious.

"Anakin!" he said harshly, and the young boy turned to Obi-wan he gulped loudly at the sight of him.

"You know better than to run around the Temple like this!" Obi-Wan added, looking quite murderous. Claire looked between the two of them, and for a fleeting moment, Claire had the impression that Obi-Wan in fact had a son. And for the briefest of moments, Claire felt a sudden sinking and dejected feeling in the pit of her stomach. But the next words from the boy's mouth erased that.

"Sorry Master Kenobi," he said, and he looked down in obvious shame.

"Would someone mind explaining to me why this thing attacked my droid?" Claire asked, holding up the robot and watching it dangle in her hand. The boy, Anakin, looked up at Claire. He had light brown hair and dark eyes, and he looked maybe about 11 years of age.

"Um, that's, um, mine," he said quietly, looking up at Claire.

"Yeah, I figured that much," Claire said, and suddenly she smiled one of her rare smiles as she handed the robot to the boy. Anakin smiled back, and he took his robot.

"Anakin," Obi-Wan said, his voice much gentler now, "this is Claire Pelatiah. She's a Jedi."

"Is she the one that you we were assigned to work with?" Anakin asked, looking up at his Master. Obi-Wan nodded. Then he looked up at Claire.

"I'm Anakin Skywalker," Anakin said brightly, and he smiled at Claire.

"My apprentice, as you might've already guessed," Obi-Wan added.

"Pleased to meet you, young Skywalker," Claire said, smiling again. Anakin smiled back.

"Well, I suppose I shall go and wait for the fighters," Claire said to Obi-Wan, making sure to keep her voice as calm and polite as she could. She nodded curtly to him, gave Anakin a smile, then turned away.

"Wait, you're going to watch the fighters come in?" Anakin suddenly burst out, "the ones who are coming to help with our mission?" Claire looked at him.

"Yeah, those're the ones," she said. Anakin suddenly got very interested.

"Can I come? Please?" he asked. Claire looked at him, lost for words. She looked up at Obi-Wan who looked quite intrigued by his apprentice's request.

"Um, yeah, if it's alright with your Master," she said uncertainly.

"I suppose I'll come too," Obi-Wan replied, "I'll want to hear more about the mission." Anakin smiled even broadly at that.

"But first go and take care of that contraption you call a droid," Obi-Wan ordered Anakin, and he nodded in understanding before dashing away with his little robot. Claire simply blinked in astonishment at her new predicament.


	14. Chapter 14

**{Chapter 14: Information**

When the threesome, consisting of Claire Pelatiah, Obi-Wan Kenobi, and Anakin Skywalker exited the Jedi temple to wait outside for the arrival of the fighters from Besond X, Claire was thoroughly overwhelmed. A lot of the Padawans and apprentices she had encountered on Jo'ron, none were quite as intriguing as this Anakin. He was energetic, and, Claire noticed, very knowledgeable of the Force. And he was extraordinarily powerful. He was very talkative, and obviously interested in fliers and fighter planes. Claire couldn't help but keep a constant smile on her face.

"R7," Claire asked, "can you read them?" R7, who was finally over the shock of the attack by the little robot creature, responded quietly.

"How far do you reckon?" she asked. R7 beeped again and Claire nodded. Anakin was also very intrigued by R7 as well. He watched R7 for the longest time, battering him and Claire with questions, before he launched into an explanation that he loved to build things, and he left a prototype human-cyborg relations unit at his home planet with his mother. Claire was quite intrigued by Anakin's expressive and energetic personality.

Quite abruptly, R7 beeped loudly, and Claire looked up.

"Ah, here they are now," she said, which directed Obi-Wan's and Anakin's attention to the sky. They watched as a number of fighters flew into the atmosphere. Though, only three turned in the direction of the Jedi temple, while the other's flew in the opposite direction.

"Where're they going?" Anakin asked curiously as the fighter separated.

"Dunno, probably to find lodging…" Claire suggested, and she shielded her eyes at the brightness of the sun so she could see the fighters coming closer. Claire grinned as they got closer.

"That's definitely Grindon," she said, and she raised her hand in the air to signal the fliers toward them. Anakin watched with rapt attention. Pretty soon, the fliers were landing on the platform in front of the Jedi temple, and the threesome walked over to where they landed, Claire leading the pack.

"Marcus," Claire said as a middle-aged man climbed out of the nearest flier. The man pulled off his helmet and broke out in a wide grin when he saw Claire and the two shook hands roughly, but enthusiastically like old siblings.

"I heard about the droids," Claire said when they let go, and Marcus Grindon shrugged nonchalantly.

"It wasn't a big deal," he said. Claire rolled her eyes and put a hand to the side of his face where a long gash was slowly healing.

"Yeah, no big deal my light saber," she said.

"Oh that, that's just from fighting with Mercado," he said with another grin, and Claire actually laughed.

"Yeah, Mercado," she said, "right. You lost then?"

"Haha, very funny," Marcus said smirking now.

"It's good to see a familiar face from home," Claire added, her tone becoming more serious.

"Oh you're not gonna go all mushy on me are you?" Marcus asked, and he tucked his helmet under his arm, leaning to the side and giving her a mock-embarrassed look. Claire lost her grin.

"Don't make me punch you," she grumbled, but a smile was creeping in the corners of her mouth. It was then that she remembered Obi-Wan and Anakin behind her.

"Oh yes, I almost forgot," Claire said, and she turned back to Obi-Wan and his apprentice.

"This is Jedi Knight Obi-Wan Kenobi," she said gesturing toward Obi-Wan, "and his apprentice Anakin Skywalker." Marcus nodded at the pair of them, and Obi-Wan bowed in respect toward him.

"Nice to meet you," Marcus said, "A few more Jedi's. Just what we need, really… the droids are a handful. In fact I'll suspect we'll see a lot of Jedi's here, but I hear you're the main ones on the mission then?" Marcus directed his question toward Claire.

"Yeah, we are," she replied, and she took a moment to glance very quickly at Obi-Wan. Marcus looked back up at the Jedi Temple, staring at it for a few seconds.

"Hey, that reminds me," Claire said, "where are you and the other fighters staying?" Marcus turned back to Claire.

"Oh, yeah, there's a station down on the farther end of the Imperial city that we rented out, so we'll be there." Claire nodded.

"Okay, well if you need more lodging, I'm staying here in the temple, and I'm sure they won't mind a few of you staying there as well," she said. Marcus nodded.

"I'm sure there's enough room, but I'll definitely keep that in mind," he said.

"Oh, that _also_ reminds me," Claire said, and this time she turned to R7. "I need to you to go and get our flier, alright?" she asked. R7 beeped back at her and Claire frowned.

"Well… I dunno R7… I can go with you after Marcus—" she started, but suddenly Anakin piped up.

"Can I take him?"

Claire looked at him, bewildered, as did Marcus and Obi-Wan.

"Anakin," Obi-Wan said sternly, much like a father scolding a child.

"But I can do it," Anakin said, and he turned to the Jedi. Obi-Wan looked up at Claire.

"I mean, I—" Claire started, "are you sure you can _fly_?" Anakin looked up at Claire, and his expression dropped.

"I'm a _really_ good flier," he said, point-blank. Suddenly R7 beeped in response. Claire looked at him.

"R7, are you _suicidal_?" she hissed. Anakin got a frustrated look and Claire looked over at him again. He reminded her of her own self at that age, and even now, stubborn and strong-willed, wanting to prove himself. Claire sighed inwardly. She looked up at Obi-Wan for assurance.

"He _is_ a rather good flier…" he muttered.

"Well, fine then," Claire said reluctantly, but she tuned to both Anakin and R7.

"R7 drives the vehicle, you can get the flier back here. I'm sure you can find the temple from our complex," Claire said. Anakin was now beaming in joy. R7 was even beeping happily. He had taken quite a liking to Anakin. Claire sighed.

"And don't make me regret this, R7!" Claire called after them as Anakin and R7 headed to her slick black vehicle.

"Are you _sure_ you should…?" Marcus asked Claire, giving her an apprehensive sort of look. Claire met his gaze with a weary sigh.

"No, I'm not sure," she answered truthfully. She watched as R7 and the little Padawan lifted off in her vehicle. Then she turned back to Marcus.

"We should discuss everything inside," she said quietly. Marcus nodded in understanding. Claire gave one last fleeting look after her droid and vehicle, and then she led the way to the Jedi Temple.

"So you mean to tell me… that there really is a droid army coming to Coruscant, sent by the Sith Lord, mind you, to destroy the planet?" Obi-Wan asked, obviously voicing the disbelief in his voice.

"Well we weren't lying," Claire said hotly, turning to Obi-Wan and glaring. She had gotten back her normal frustrated demeanor now that they were settled and he was being complicated once more.

"I wasn't suggesting that," Obi-Wan replied, matching Claire's glare. Luckily, Marcus stepped in at the right moment.

"Yeah, that's exactly right, and it's not a small little troupe," he said, drawing Obi-Wan gaze over to the fighter pilot.

"How big are we talking?" he asked.

"From what we've gotten from readings," Marcus started, and he stopped too glance briefly around the room, which was a corner of the library, "at least three hundred… and that's only what we've picked up in the last twelve hours." Claire brought a hand to her forehead, sighing.

"Why?" Obi-Wan asked, looking bewildered at the thought of that many droids, "_why_ are they coming _here_?"

"Because of the Chancellor," Claire said, releasing her face to look at Obi-Wan, who returned her gaze, "because of the Jedi. Why not kill the most organized group of fighters in the galaxy? They all happen to be here." Obi-Wan looked sickened for a moment.

"So that's why you brought so many," he muttered, and he looked away.

"Exactly," Marcus said.

"Yeah, and I'm gonna have R7 ready my flier by the morning, if the droids are arriving sometime in the next few days," Claire added in.

"Oh, whoa," Marcus said, and he looked at Claire furiously, "You are _not_ going up there!"

"Excuse me, Grindon?" Claire asked, now matching his fury. "What do you mean I'm not going up there?"

"You need to be down here with the other Jedi's, in case of a breach of the atmosphere—" Marcus started, but Claire cut in.

"Then I'll just get my skin down here when they do!" Claire replied harshly. "Marcus, you're going to need all the men up there as you can get!"

"Yes, and we're going to need all the Jedi we can down here!" Obi-Wan cut in heatedly, glaring at Claire again. Claire looked at him. Her gaze suddenly shifted to Anakin, who was off in another corner of the library, talking with a very happy R7, both who looked completely oblivious to the pending danger.

"Listen," Claire said, turning back to Marcus, "Master Faleur said it himself— I'm one of the best up there when it comes to droids." Marcus looked at Claire, biting his lip.

"You know this Marcus," Claire added, her voice dropping to a softer pitch, which was gentle and soothing, and very uncharacteristic.

"Yeah, and you're a darn good Jedi too…" Marcus said, meeting Claire's gaze. Claire frowned, and she leaned back in her seat.

"Well, obviously, Master Malek doesn't think so, nor do the rest of them," she said, her voice bitter, "except Mercado." Marcus looked at Claire, seeing the pain in her eyes. Obi-Wan noticed her bitterness as well, curious of what Claire meant by it.

"Look," Marcus said, now his voice gentler, "I'll make a deal with you. You can fight up there, but as soon as one droid, _one_ droid gets to the planet, you are to get your skin down here and fight with the rest of the Jedi's, where you belong. Got it?" Claire looked over at him.

"You mean it?" she asked, looking him dead in the eye. Marcus nodded.

"You got it," he said. Claire nodded slowly.

"Just, don't get yourself almost killed, like last time," Marcus added. Claire allowed herself a bit of a smile.

"You know that'll be no fun," she said. Marcus shook his head.

At last the three of them stood.

"I'll let you know as soon as we know if the droids are in the vicinity. It could be any time," Marcus said, looking at Claire.

"And you'd better be ready," he added, looking at Obi-Wan and then Claire, his eyes stern, "we don't know when they'll be here. So you have to be ready to jump in your flier at any moment, got it?" Claire nodded.

"Yeah Marcus," she said.

"Okay," Marcus said. He then turned and waved at the other two fighters who were busying themselves at a holographic imaging station, looking through the files curiously. They noted Grindon, and then quickly walked over.

"My men and I will head out," Marcus said, "we'll be around here sometime in the morning."

"Okay," Claire said, and she nodded. Marcus nodded once more, and then he tucked his helmet under his arm, and then headed out of the Jedi Temple. Claire watched until he was gone. Then she turned to Obi-Wan.

"I suppose you should alert the Council of what he said," she said, resuming her rough voice, though it was slightly off as though she didn't feel like talking that way. Obi-Wan simply nodded. He seemed not to want to talk either. He then turned and snapped his fingers at Anakin.

"Anakin, let's go," he said. Anakin looked up at his Master, then he turned to R7, said something, and then he stood. R7 rolled over to Claire, and Anakin walked over to Obi-Wan.

"We should meet back here in the morning," Claire said, "I'll be getting my flier ready just in case." Obi-Wan nodded, and then looked once last time at Claire. He nodded wordlessly, and then Claire turned and walked off, R7 tailing behind her.


	15. Chapter 15

{Cha]pter 15: The Droid Army

Claire stretched her arms out in front of her, taking in a deep breath. She flexed her arms, her eyes tightly closed, and then she exhaled. She did this again; all the while keeping her eyes closed tightly, and thinking of nothing except the same monotonous line— _let the Force fill you_. It was the next morning, and Claire found that she had a difficult and restless night of sleep in the Jedi Temple, where all she could think about was the vast droid army that was coming right for Coruscant, and no one had any idea when they would arrive. Claire breathed in again, clenching her fists together, and suppressing a yawn. Suddenly her concentration was broken by something nudging Claire in the leg. Claire abruptly stopped her relaxation technique, and she looked down. R7 was at her feet, pushing her.

"R7, what?" she asked. He beeped something, and Claire rolled her eyes.

"Oh don't be pushy," she said, and she discontinued her exercise and walked over to her bed to grab her Jedi clothes. She slipped them on quickly, and then turned back to R7.

"You're not the one who had a miserable night of sleep," Claire muttered, "and really when I needed it too…" Claire sighed inwardly, and then turned to her bag. She grabbed it and slung it over her shoulder, and then she tucked her light saber into her belt.

"C'mon then R7," she said, "but I'll need to grab something to eat, alright?" R7 beeped a quiet response, which Claire took as an okay.

Feeling slightly better after having something to eat, Claire made her way through the Jedi Temple to the outside where she knew her flier was waiting. It was a bright morning, and the vehicles were weaving in and out of each other as though they were completely oblivious to the fact that there was a cosmic droid army headed for their planet. _But then, they _are_ completely oblivious to that_, Claire reminded her self as she walked down the steps of the large Jedi Temple, the heat of the sun feeling kind of nice against her skin. As Claire walked toward her flier, R7 trailing behind her, she looked up at the bright blue sky. There were few clouds, and everything looked completely normal. Claire sighed at that, for she knew nothing was normal at this moment. She reached her flier, which was parked secularly off to the side, but visible from the temple.

"R7, I want you check everything," Claire ordered as she watched the little droid roll to the left side of the flier to get pulled up into, "and by that I mean the fuel, the power, and wires, anything. I don't want anything going wrong up there…" When R7 beeped his usual reply, he popped open the hatch to the cockpit door, and Claire gracefully leapt in. She clicked a few buttons, checking to make sure everything was alright. The lights came on fine, and R7 was already beeping to make sure she could read his words across the screen.

"Yeah, everything's okay with the hologram too," Claire answered to R7's questions. She brought up a holographic image of Coruscant, and then closed that to check a few more things. The flier had been, of course, running smoothly before, but it didn't hurt to check. She needed to make sure everything was a-okay before flying into space to dance with the droids. Claire sighed to herself when she finished checking what she could.

"_Are you nervous about the droid army?"_ R7 suddenly asked. Claire looked at R7 question thinking about her answer.

"…Yeah I am actually," she said finally. R7 didn't say any back for a few moments.

"_I am too,"_ he finally beeped. Claire smiled weakly, feeling slightly better.

The pair of them went over the controls once more before Claire announced that everything was fine, and she hopped out of the flier again, R7 dropping out behind her. Claire walked over to the back of the flier, checking the hatches to the engines and the wings, just to be safe. Just as she was pulling the hatch down over the wing's right attachment, she was suddenly startled by a voice.

"Is everything all right?"

Claire jumped in response, rapping her head against the wing.

"_Blast,_" she cried furiously, clapping a hand to her head.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to startle you," Claire heard Obi-Wan say as he walked over to Claire. Claire gritted her teeth, looking up at Obi-Wan. He looked somewhat concerned. Claire ignored this.

"Yeah, it's no problem," she growled. She pulled down her hand to make sure she wasn't bleeding, and then she looked back up at the Jedi.

"I was just making sure everything was working okay. I'd rather be safe than sorry up there," Claire explained, blinking away the pain in her head and forcing herself to look at Obi-Wan. Obi-Wan directed his attention to the flier, looking at it with mild interest. Claire had the fleeting impression that he wasn't really interested in knowing how her flier was doing. After a moment or two, Claire finally looked away, snapping her fingers at R7. She started to walk away when Obi-Wan finally spoke again.

"Look, I was curious," he started, and he paused as if thinking about what to say next. "About what General Grindon said yesterday." Claire turned back to Obi-Wan now interested in what he was so curious about. Obi-Wan didn't meet her eyes.

"He said you were a good Jedi," he continued, "but you said that Master Malek and the rest of the Council on Jo'ron obviously didn't think so, except for Master Faleur." He paused again. Claire stood there expectantly, but slightly impressed. He had given this quite some thought, if he decided to ask Claire about it.

"What did you mean by that?" Obi-Wan finally asked. Claire felt a sinking feeling. She knew he would ask, but now that he did, it wasn't something she was so keen on sharing.

"Because…" she started, but she too paused, thinking about what to say. How should she say it?

"Because they seem to be holding me back. On my Jedi status."

Obi-Wan looked at her, obviously confused by what she meant exactly. Claire leaned on her left foot, uncomfortable about sharing this with her so-called rival.

"For the longest time I was settled between the rank of being an apprentice or a Jedi Knight," Claire continued, refusing to look at Obi-Wan out of embarrassment. "Only two years ago, soon after my mission here, did they finally move me up to Jedi Knight. But I've been requesting a Padawan for the last year. They refuse me every time. I don't think they believe me to be a good enough Jedi."

"Well that's ridiculous," Obi-Wan said, and Claire noticed a tone of frustration in his voice. He was agreeing with her? "Why can't you submit your request to the Council here, on Coruscant?"

"I can't," Claire said, and she finally looked up at Obi-Wan, "because my request is considered too trivial for those here." At that Obi-Wan couldn't think of anything to say for a few moments.

"Why… why didn't they make you a Jedi Knight after you left your master? If it's experience they're looking for, then you should've been made a Jedi Knight before!" Obi-Wan finally said, as if that solved everything. At that, Claire crossed her arms and looked down.

"Because my Master died four years ago. I wasn't finished with my training. I was nineteen." Now Obi-Wan was silent. He was staring at Claire wordlessly, pondering this.

"Only Mercado was willing enough to fervently request permission to finish training me. After a while they finally gave in to his battering, and they let him take me on. He hadn't gotten his own apprentice, since he wasn't really ready for one. But we've been friends for as long as I can remember, and he knew I needed training. It didn't take him but two years to finish me. During those two years though, I wasn't considered his apprentice really, since I could only have one master as it was, even though mine was dead… so really, I was floating between apprentice and Knight for a long time. And now that I'm a Knight… they're still treating me as though I need training and I'm not ready for an apprentice." Obi-Wan looked down, still not saying anything. The noises of the city seemed deafening to Claire as she waited for Obi-wan to say something. Claire sighed when he didn't, and she looked up.

"I'm sorry…" Obi-Wan mumbled, though he sounded honest about it. Claire smiled bitterly.

"It doesn't matter really…" she said quietly. "After this mission, Mercado said he's gonna try one more time. If they don't accept it… then I think I'll come back here one more time and try the Council here. And if _that_ doesn't work… well, let's just say I'm no longer going to have a passion for the Force any longer." Obi-Wan looked up at her.

"You can't give up," he said, quietly, but firmly. Claire looked at him.

"Don't talk to me about giving up. You don't know what it's like to be treated this way," she said coldly. And with that she turned to walk away. But as she was walking away, she stopped, thinking suddenly.

"I never asked you," she said, and she turned back to Obi-Wan. "I haven't seen Master Qui-Gon Jinn. Since you have an apprentice, I figured you left him... but I haven't seen him." At that Obi-Wan's eyes seemed to grow hard and cold.

"He died," he said shortly, "not long after your mission here two years ago. That's when I received Anakin as my apprentice." Claire stared in shock. Qui-Gon? Dead? That came as a blow.

"I'm— I'm sorry," she said quietly, her voice no longer cold. Obi-Wan nodded curtly. Claire looked away, now being the one with nothing comforting to say.

"I really am sorry," she said again, and then she began walking away. Suddenly, though, she was stopped as R7 began buzzing loudly. Claire looked at him, startled.

"R7? What is it?" she asked. He continued to beep, and Claire was unable to catch anything he was saying. Suddenly Claire felt her calling device going nuts. Claire pulled it out, and then pushed the button.

"Yeah?" she asked, confused.

"Pelatiah? It's Grindon," a voice came through. Claire felt a rush of chills run down her spine.

"Yeah? What's wrong?" she asked, keeping her voice calm. Obi-Wan was now watching Claire with rapt attention.

"It's the droid army…" Marcus said, his voice hoarse as if he'd been yelling instructions. "They've entered the galaxy." At that Claire felt as though she went numb.

"They're here…? Already?" she asked. She stopped, thinking wildly.

"How long until they reach the planet?" she asked mechanically.

"A matter of minutes… they coming fast…. Claire, if you're going up there, you get up there right _now_," Marcus replied. Claire nodded.

"Alright," she said quietly, and then she closed her device. She stared off into the distance.

"Get to the Temple," she said to Obi-Wan who was watching Claire wordlessly.

"Are you sure this is a good idea Pelatiah?" he asked sharply.

"They'll be here within minutes," Claire replied shortly. "I have to be up there. They need me." Claire suddenly threw her bag at the opened cockpit of her flier, where it landed with a thud. Just as she was about to leap into the flier, she turned to Obi-Wan.

"Get-to-the-temple," she said fiercely. Obi-Wan gave her one last frustrated look; he seemed to want to protest again.

"Just, get Anakin and stay there," Claire ordered, and she leapt into her flier. She slid into the seat easily, trying to control her heart's erratic beating.

"Go," Claire said, as she strapped herself into the seat, R7 rolling up beside the flier, still beeping. "I'll let you know if— if I have to come back. Now!" Obi-Wan finally nodded, obviously reluctant. Claire didn't watch as Obi-Wan turned away to the temple. Claire had now forgotten about their tense conversation, and she flipped on the controls to the flier, feeling the engine fire up under her.

"R7," she said, "are you ready?" R7 beeped a weak reply, and Claire knew he was as ready as she was.

"Okay, R7, get us up there!" Claire ordered, and she checked her seat belt once more. Then she pulled the flier up into the air. She the flier lifted up, Claire noticed off in the distance, the other fliers of the fighters from Besond X pulling up into the sky as well. She cast one more glance at the Jedi Temple where she saw Obi-Wan entering, and then she put the flier into high gear, speeding off toward the bright blue sky.


	16. Chapter 16

**{Chapter 16: Battle in the Stars**

"Grindon, it's Pelatiah, do you copy?" Claire said, watching as her flier exited the atmosphere of Coruscant and she saw empty open space. It was completely deserted, despite the many hyper drivers floating aimlessly through space. Only static reached Claire's ears as she strained to hear something from the planet below. She muttered a curse, slowing the flier down so it glided along through the gravity of the planet's outer atmosphere.

"R7, try and see if you can get a signal," Claire ordered, flipping a few switches and keeping her eyes out through the stars to watch for any oncoming enemy droids. Only empty space met her eyes. R7 beeped to himself as he extended a small satellite, trying to increase the wavelengths to try and reach General Grindon.

"C'mon Grindon…" Claire said through her teeth as R7 tried to reach him. There was nothing. Claire swore under her breath, feeling her heart pounding harder in her chest. Silence, except for the normal sounds of her flier, met her ears. Just when Claire was about to give up, a sudden static erupted through her earpiece.

"Pelatiah? Do you read me?" It was Grindon.

"Grindon!" Claire cried, "where have you been?"

"Sorry, we were held up," Grindon replied, his voice cutting in and out. "Do you see them yet?"

Claire looked out across the stars, seeing nothing.

"No, I don't," she responded. Grindon didn't reply to that. Claire continued to gaze out across the stars. As she stared though, she saw something. In the distance it looked like a group of stars were heading their way. Claire stared harder at the scene, trying to see what it was. As she stared harder, she realized that it was the droid army making its way across the vast expanse of space toward Coruscant.

"Grindon," Claire said, her voice rising in alarm, "we got company! I repeat, we got company!"

"Alright!" Grindon said, "Guys, prepare yourselves!" Claire started flipping more switches, and as she did, she twisted around in her seat to look behind her at Coruscant. The fighters were coming out of the atmosphere, ready to face the droids.

"Here we go R7," she said quietly as she faced space once more, watching at the droid army came closer and closer.

It was only a matter of minutes before the droids arrived and Grindon was barking out orders to Claire and his men. Claire pretty much went on her own instinct. As soon as the droids started shooting she was doing barrel rolls and shooting back.

"R7, focus on that mass over there!" Claire yelled as she pulled her flier out of a particularly nasty set of fires from another droid ship. R7 automatically began firing at a large group of droids who were ganging up on a single fighter.

"Pelatiah," Grindon said suddenly, "try and break through these masses and try to get outside them— try and get them from the outside!"

"Right," Claire said, and she gripped the steering controls tighter.

"C'mon R7, do you think you can break through them?" she said, and R7 beeped a low, almost exhausted response.

"Aw, you can't be tired already," Claire said grinning, "we're just getting started!" But suddenly her grin was wiped off her face as a droid fired a shot at the back of her ship. Claire swore loudly, and then ordered R7 to fire behind them as well.

"Pelatiah!" Grindon yelled furiously in her ear.

"I know I know!" Claire yelled back as she lurched forward from the impact of another shot "R7, _get them!_" Claire saw out of the corner of her eye, the ship explode behind her, and R7 focused on the mass in front of them.

"R7," Claire said, trying to calm her voice, "lemme have the right side, okay?" R7 complied and gave Claire control of the right guns. Claire smiled malevolently to herself and she took a hold of the controls, and began firing furiously at the droid ships.

"Take _that_," she said through her teeth, her eyes lighting up as the ships exploded one by one and droids went flying by in parts. Finally there was a break in the large collection of the droids and Claire took her chance.

"Okay Grindon," Claire said as she directed the flier straight through the opening, "I'm going through!" As she neared the gap though, another group of droids were attempting to fill in the gap, seemingly making a solid wall of droid ships.

"Oh no you _don't_," Claire growled, and she flipped another switch on her flier. It kicked up the speed, and Claire sped toward the formation of droids, As she neared, the droids attempted fire, but Claire was too quick. She fired at them, knocking a few out of the way, and then she finally broke through the gap.

"HA!" Claire cried triumphantly, and she grinned again, turning the flier around the avoid slamming into a few droid ships.

"Okay Grindon," she said, trying to regulate her now-erratic breathing, "I'm in."

"Great," Grindon said back, and Claire could see through the gap of droids that he was trying to get a particularly stubborn droid ship, "uh, just hold there! Get as many as you can!"

"Got it," Claire replied. Claire looked over at R7

"You heard the man, R7," she said, and she took a hold of the steering wheel once more. She pulled forward a bit, and began firing again at the droids. As she looked around throughout the battle scene, she noticed a lot of the fighters were still in tact and fighting.

"Something's not right, R7…" she said quietly, staring out into the space. There wasn't many droids. In fact, there was only maybe fifty or sixty.

"There should be more droids…" she muttered. She reached up and touched her earpiece again.

"Grindon," she said quietly.

"What is it Pelatiah?" the general answered roughly.

"Why aren't there more droids?"

Grindon went quiet a moment. Claire had the sudden impression that he was gazing around space, counting the droids and noticed the odd problem.

"I… I don't know," he said back finally, and Claire felt a sinking feeling.

"This can't be it," she said, and without even noticing really, she took another shot at an oncoming droid fighter.

"I dunno Pelatiah," Grindon replied, and she watched him shoot down another few droids on his own. "I just don't— CLAIRE BEHIND YOU!" In an instant Claire screamed at R7 to pull the ship around, but she wasn't fast enough. She lurched forward as something collided with the back on her ship. Claire moaned as she pulled herself up, and she distinctly heard Grindon whisper

"My God…" Claire looked up, and what she saw made her blood run cold. Hundred upon hundred of droid army ships were flying toward them, and Claire was just hit by one obviously trying to sacrifice itself to destroy her.

"Well I guess we found the rest of our droid army," Claire said blankly.

"Pelatiah, get out of there," Grindon said, his voice hoarse and quiet. When Claire didn't move, Grindon swore.

"GET OUT OF THERE!"

"Alright alright!" Claire yelled, and she finally regained her posture and turned back to the control panel.

"Okay, R7, let's rock and roll!" she said, and she flipped another switch to accelerate her flier. In an instant she was speeding off toward the other end of the battle field, occasionally glancing behind her see the enormous army coming upon them. Claire listened to Grindon barking orders at the fighters, and Claire held back, watching.

"Get them from the front!" Grindon yelled, seeing as most of the droids that had came there first were destroyed, and all they had to face was what was coming straight at them. Claire whipped her flier around to face the army, and she began firing like mad toward them.

With a good hundred ships or more of there own, they ended up getting quite a few droids before they breached and started circling the Besond X forces. Claire was back to speeding around, firing at the enemies. She began barking her own orders at the other fighters, giving pointers and noticing their weak spots. Pretty soon though, many of their ships were gone.

"Grindon," Claire said, and she jerked her flier over to avoid enemy fire. "You can see that we've, um, lost a lot of men right?"

"Yeah, I can see that Pelatiah," Grindon growled, and Claire heard firing in the background.

"And you can see that these droids aren't letting up…?"

"I'm not blind Pelatiah," Grindon answered. Claire sighed, unable to get frustrated with the general.

"What are we gonna do…?" Claire asked quietly, and she fired again at more droids. Grindon was quiet this time longer that usual.

"…We gotta keep fighting," he finally said. Claire nodded gripping the steering wheel again.

"Aye, general," she said. She fired again, almost aimlessly, at more droids.

The longer they fought, the more droids seemed to come. They never thinned, while Grindon's own forces were thinning rapidly. Claire was beginning to ache, seeing as she was hurtled back and forth from enemy fire multiple times. But she couldn't give in. She tried to keep her eyes peeled, keeping an eye out on the droids. But soon, something happened that Claire wasn't prepared for.

"Pelatiah!" Grindon yelled, "They're breaching the atmosphere! GET DOWN THERE NOW!" Claire suddenly let out a startled yell, and she looked out toward Coruscant. There were two droid ships sneaking into the atmosphere. Claire swore again.

"We'll hold the others off!" Grindon yelled, and Claire directed her flier like a bullet toward the planet. As she sped toward the planet though, Claire failed to realize that another droid ship was attempting to breach the atmosphere as well, and had taken notice of Claire. He was attempting to collide with Claire, and she couldn't see him due to her blind side.

"Pelatiah!" Grindon yelled again, "there's one tailing you!" Claire turned her head, but she couldn't see it.

"Wha— where!" she cried, beginning to feel panic well up inside of her. Suddenly Grindon dived toward Claire, heading straight for the droid tailing Claire. As Claire began to turn her flier toward the direction that Grindon was headed, she saw the droid ship. And it saw Grindon. Grindon let out a cry of fury, and he opened fire on the enemy ship. It only took a few shots and the thing was down.

"Pelatiah, go!" Grindon yelled. But as Claire began to turned, she saw in her peripheral vision, another droid coming behind Grindon.

"Grindon, behind you!" Claire gasped in alarm. But she was too late. The droid began firing non-stop at Grindon's ship. Claire head him gasp, then swear.

"Claire— get—" he started, but suddenly he was cut off. Claire's eyes widened as she saw a fire erupt over Grindon's ship.

"MARCUS!" she screamed, and the ship was abruptly motionless. Smoke was billowing out of the cockpit, the droid unit in the left wing of the flier was destroyed, and there was a hissing steam escaping from the back. He couldn't survive in that.

"Claire, go!" someone yelled through her earpiece, and Claire blankly obeyed them. She directed her flier toward Coruscant, and tailed the rogue droids. Just as she was entering the atmosphere of Coruscant, she heard a sudden explosion, and all she could see in her mind was Marcus Grindon's ship be destroyed into oblivion. He was gone. Their commander was gone. For a moment Claire forgot everything. But then, as Claire saw the droids entering Coruscant, she suddenly thought of Anakin and Obi-Wan. They were down on the planet, without warning, and enemy droids were coming fast. At this thought, Claire felt a sudden surge of rage. She ground her teeth, gripped the steering wheel and set her fiery eyes on the droids she was tailing.

"R7," she said her voice cold, sharp, and determined, "get ready to fire." R7 beeped in reply, but Claire didn't look. She looked down at her dashboard, and began flipping switches to fire up the weapons.

"Take this," Claire muttered, and she pressed the firing button. In an instant Claire was firing at the droids, non-stop, not taking her eyes off them.

"R7," Claire said when she took a break, having hit one of the enemies quite badly, "contact Kenobi now!" R7 extended his little satellite, and Claire waited for someone to reply. As she waited she began firing again. And then, through her intense firing, she heard someone answer her hails.

"Pelatiah?" Obi-Wan said, sounding concerned.

"You might wanna start gathering up some Jedi's 'cause we got company," Claire said, her voice still harsh and cold, and full of fury.

"Are they coming?" Obi-Wan asked, sounding quite distant.

"Yeah, they are, I'm tailing two—" Claire started, but suddenly she was cut off. Another droid ship fired at Claire from behind, knocking out R7's satellite.

"R7!" Claire screamed. He beeped a steady reply, and Claire swore at the realization that she couldn't contact anyone.

"That's it," Claire said harshly, "R7, focus on those droids now!" She began firing again, and soon she had one down. But the ground was approaching fast.

"We're not gonna make it," Claire said, and she reached down to the dashboard to extend the landing gear. "We're gonna have to take it on the ground." Claire set the flier into full speed, hoping to catch the droids before it hit ground. But she was too late. It hit the ground in front of the Jedi temple, issuing smoke and debris everywhere.

"Brace yourself R7," Claire said, and she shut her eyes tightly as the ground came up to her. She let out a cry as her flier hit the ground, skidding to a stop on the strip leading to the Jedi temple. Without even stopping, Claire un-strapped herself as the cockpit opened up and fresh air and sunlight streamed in. Claire grabbed her light saber and jumped out of the flier, hitting the ground hard, but not caring. She dashed at the droid ship, from which three droids were climbing out of. She let out a cry of fury as she reached them, and she began swinging her saber around treacherously. She easily beheaded the droids with one swipe, watching as their bodies fell to the ground without even getting a chance to fire. Claire stared at them, her chest heaving, her anger rising. She looked up to see another droid ship entering the atmosphere. She had minutes.

"Pelatiah!"

Claire turned to see Obi-Wan jogging over to her, looking fierce. He obviously noticed the droid ship, and he gazed up at the sky.

"I'll take care of this one," Claire said. "Have you warned the Jedi Masters?"

"Yes," Obi-Wan said, and he directed his attention to Claire.

"Give me your calling device," Claire ordered, not harshly, but earnestly. "I have to contact the other fighters."

"General Grindon—" Obi-Wan started.

"Is dead," Claire said quietly. She ignored the Jedi's shocked look as he handed her his calling device and Claire slipped it on her ear.

"Lieutenant Macer," Claire said.

"Pelatiah?" a voice spoke back.

"How… how many men are left…?" Claire asked.

"We're… loosing too many," Macer replied. Claire closed her eyes slowly. She didn't know what to say. She had no words of comfort, and she knew they couldn't draw back because the droids would pursue them.

"Keep at them, Macer," Claire ordered.

"Aye Captain," Lieutenant Macer replied, and he went quiet. Claire turned back to Obi-Wan, her face grave.

"Get to the temple," she said quietly, but authoritatively, "gather as many as the Jedi's as you can. We're gonna need them when the droids land."

"You're going to bring them down here, aren't you?" Obi-Wan asked quietly. Claire looked away, and said nothing. Obi-Wan stared hard at her, not saying anything, but not moving.

"Are you sure that's a good idea?" he asked.

"I don't know _what's_ a good idea, Kenobi," Claire answered coldly, turning to look at him with a stony expression. "All I know is that my general is dead, I'm in charge of the men, and there are too many droids up that and we can't face them without—" but suddenly her words were cut off by a loud roaring sound. Claire looked to the sky in alarm, her heart racing. The droid ship was still heading for Coruscant, but following behind it was another flier which was missing a wing and flying erratically, as well as smoking from the back. Claire gaped in shock. The droid was almost on them, and she cried out as it began firing at them. She swore loudly and turned on her heel, followed by Obi-Wan, barely missing a few shots which hit the ground with great force. As the two Jedi's ran from the oncoming droid ship, they heard it crash behind them, and Claire turned in time to see the ship collide with the ground next to the other enemy ship. Claire stopped in her tracks, knowing she needed to get to them.

"Pelatiah," Obi-Wan started, but Claire ignored him. She ran back toward the droid ship from which more droid were appearing. Obi-Wan let out a sigh of frustration, and he ran after Claire. Claire didn't protest; in fact, she didn't even notice him. She reached the droids, whipping out her light saber again, and swinging it madly. She knocked the two down easily, twisting and turning gracefully as she did when she practiced at home in her free time.

"Pelatiah! Watch out—" Claire turned at the voice, seeing Obi-Wan, and she tried turning in the direction he was staring toward. As she turned though, Claire felt a sharp pain in her back as something hit her, and she cried, stumbling forward. In an instant, Obi-Wan was behind her, and he whipped out his own light saber and demolished the droid that had swung it's gun at Claire's back. Claire shook her head, ignoring the pain.

"Are you alright?" Obi-Wan asked, and he stepped toward Claire. Claire pulled herself up, not wanting to look weak.

"I'm fine," she muttered, resisting the urge to wince when she moved. She looked up at him for a split second, but suddenly her eyes widened as she saw what was behind him. The smoking flier was heading straight for them. They weren't going to make it.


	17. Chapter 17

**{Chapter 17: Retreat**

The smoking flier was all Claire could see, and she knew they wouldn't make it out of the way in time.

"Oh!" She cried, and she reached forward, snatching the front of Obi-Wan's robes to pull him forward. Obi-Wan, shocked by her movement, moved fluidly at her will, and Claire shoved him behind her. Without even thinking, Claire abruptly raised her hands and stared at the oncoming ship. What happened next was seemingly in slow motion. The ship unexpectedly slowed down, almost coming to a halt, feet away from Claire. Then, Claire jerked her arms to the left, and the flier seemed to obey her motion and it rapidly flew to the left, hitting the ground hard. Claire gasped, out of breath, staring at what she'd just done. She hardly ever used the Force in such manner.

"Whoa," she said quietly, her voice hoarse. Obi-Wan was also staring in shock at the flier.

For a moment Claire continued to stare at the smoking flier, as did Obi-Wan. But they were brought back to their senses as R7 came rolling up behind them, beeping madly. Claire turned, looking down at him in shock.

"R7, slow down," Claire ordered, still breathing rapidly at her amazing action.

"Wait— what?" she said, her eyebrows coming together, "what do you mean there's someone still in there? Alive?" R7 continued to beep, and Claire's eyes suddenly widened.

"It's gonna explode?" she gasped. Claire turned back to the flier, her eyes wide. Someone was still in there. Without stopping to consider her actions, Claire abruptly dashed at the flier.

"Wait— Pelatiah!" Obi-Wan cried in protest, taking a few steps after her. The flier groaned precariously, but Claire leapt up to the cockpit anyway, and she began prying open the hatch. Smoke continued to billow from the flier, obscuring Claire's vision and causing her to cough and sputter. But when she got the hatch opened, she reached through the smoke and groped around for the seatbelt. When she found it she tugged at it, but it didn't move.

"Oh come _on!_" Claire yelled, inhaling a bout of smoke at the same time. With a cry of frustration, Claire reached for her light saber, and she waved the smoke away for visibility. When she got a clear shot at the seatbelt, she swung the light saber dangerously at it, searing it in two. When the fighter was free, Claire reached in, grabbed the man, and pulled on him. He slide out easily, and Claire draped him over her shoulders, leaping down from the flier. When she was on the ground, she felt the man's weight lift from her shoulder's suddenly, and she registered the fact that Obi-Wan had pulled him off her. She felt thankful for a moment, but that thankfulness was turned into fear as the flier gave one last groan behind her. A few feet away from the flier, Claire turned just in time to see the ship lurch unexpectedly forward, and it exploded behind her. Claire screamed, and she leapt forward to dodge the flames licking at her heels. When she hit the ground, she covered her head tightly, trying to scramble up away from the flying debris. She felt a hand grip her upper arm, and she was pulled to her feet. Claire ran foreword, gasping again through the smoke, and Obi-Wan let go of her. He too was out of breath, and he knelt by the unconscious fighter pilot. Claire knelt by him too, clutching her chest to regain her breathing. For a moment she looked up at Obi-Wan, who was watching her.

"Y-you could have d-died," he said roughly, coughing as he spoke.

"Thanks," Claire mumbled, "for getting me." She looked down at the fighter pilot. As she stared at him, she suddenly realized who he was.

"Oh God," she said, and she reached down and pulled off his helmet. "Marcus!"

Marcus Grindon's head lolled to the side.

"I thought you said he was dead?" Obi-Wan asked incredulously. Claire only gaped.

"I… I thought I saw his ship…" she said quietly, her voice trailing.

"We gotta get him to the temple," Claire said firmly, and she stood, pulling up on Grindon, and putting one of his arms over her shoulder for support. Obi-Wan reached over to help, putting Grindon's other arm over his shoulder as well. Without looking at Obi-Wan, Claire made her way over to the Jedi temple, every now and then turning to look up at sky. There were no more droids coming through the atmosphere. _Where are they? Why aren't they swarming the planet?_ But Claire pushed these thoughts to the back of her mind as they reached the Jedi temple entrance.

"I'll go find Master Windu," Obi-Wan said, and he walked past Claire into the temple, and Claire followed as fast as she could, supporting Grindon as she walked. Obi-Wan didn't have to go far to find Master Windu. He was waiting inside the temple, waiting for someone to inform them of the situation in the stars. When he saw Claire supporting Grindon, his face became grave.

"What happed?" he asked, stepping over to Claire to help ease the pressure on her shoulders.

"His ship was hit by droids and it crashed down here…" Claire said, looking over at Grindon who was still unconscious. "He needs to be taken to the infirmary." Windu looked over to the right of them, and he nodded at someone. Claire felt the burden of the unconscious general lifted as someone came over and pulled him away. Windu focused his attention on Claire, looking deathly serious.

"I'll go with them," Obi-Wan said quietly, and without another word he followed the team of men who were escorting Grindon to the infirmary.

Windu focused his attention on Claire, looking deathly serious.

"What's the situation?" he asked. Claire looked at him, her face just as serious.

"I'll be honest sir," she said, "we're loosing. There are hundreds of droids, and we're loosing too many men. It's…. looking like we might have to draw the droids down here to finish them off." Windu looked even more grim at that.

"I know you don't like that idea," Claire added, "it's not safe. But it's the only thing we can do to stop loosing men. The droids will come down here anyway if we can't finish them up there." Windu turned away, obviously thinking over Claire's solitary proposal.

"When would you bring them down here?" he asked.

"I can issue the order now—" Claire started, but she stopped when Windu looked over at Claire questioningly. She realized his expression was mixed with curiosity at her answer.

"I'm in charge sir," she said quietly, "next in command since General Grindon is— well— unable to perform his duty at this time." Windu's expression softened, and he turned away again.

"Then issue the order, Commander," he finally said, and Claire felt a pang of something mixed with fear and relief.

"Yes Master," she said quietly, and she bowed slightly before turning away. But as she was turning away, she was startled by her calling device picking up a load of static. And then a voice broke through.

"Commander Pelatiah? A voice said. "This is Lieutenant Paloden."

"Lieutenant Paloden," Claire answer, "I read you. What's wrong?"

"It's the droids, Commander," he said. Claire suddenly went cold.

"Paloden, how many men are left…?" she asked.

"No, Commander, it's not that," Paloden said, and Claire felt a wave of confusion wash over her. Master Windu turned to Claire curiously.

"Commander, they're, they're leaving," Paloden said. Claire stopped in her tracks.

"Leaving?" she repeated. "What do you mean, 'leaving'?"

"They're retreating! They're not fighting any more!"

Claire stopped, her mind racing. This wasn't right. They just don't retreat. That's not what droids do. Unless, they were given another order.

"Paloden, send a tracking device after them," Claire ordered abruptly.

"Commander?" Paloden asked, voicing confusion.

"Just do it," Claire said back.

"But—Commander—"

"Lieutenant Paloden," Claire said coldly and sharply, "as the new Commander of this mission, I'm ordering you to send a tracking device after those droid ships! We need to follow them!"

"Yes Commander," he said without any question. He was quiet a moment, and then he spoke up again.

"The tracking device is in full pursuit, Commander. The information will be sent to your R7 unit until transferred to your ship…"

"Thank you Paloden," Claire said softly, and then she disconnected. In an instant she was turned back around.

"Master Windu," Claire said, and she looked at him, her gaze serious again.

"It seems as though the droids have been given a new order. They're retreating from Coruscant… I've sent a tracking device after them to keep them on our radar," she explained. Windu simply looked at her. He seemed to know she was about to request something.

"Sir, I request to I follow the droids at my own personal risk. It's imperative that we follow them…" Claire finally asked. Windu stared at her a moment, contemplating her request.

"You have our permission," he said. Claire nodded toward him, and she began walking away.

"However," Windu said, and Claire stopped in her tracks, "there is one condition." Claire slowly turned to him.

"Yes, of course Master," she said respectfully. But she was fearing the worst. She had a horrible feeling about what he was going to ask of her.

"I would like you to take Obi-Wan Kenobi and his apprentice with you." Even though she feared that was what he was going to ask, Claire still felt her stomach drop severely.

"Master—" she started, but she couldn't find the right words.

"You will take them with you, Pelatiah," Master Windu said calmly.

"Master… I.. I don't know how safe this will be," Claire started. Windu looked at Claire sternly.

"You will have another Jedi with you," he said.

"Master, I can handle having another Jedi with me who can take care of himself," Claire said, a little more harshly than intended, "but the boy… Master, I can't risk him getting killed on behalf of me!" Windu raised his eyebrows in what seemed like amusement, which caused a fire of frustration inside Claire.

"Then young Skywalker will be your responsibility," Windu said, "if you wish to further your mission. Besides, he needs this kind of training." _He's joking, _Claire thought wildly, _he must be. Expecting me to take care of a _child_?_ Claire, though, swallowed her bitter thoughts.

"Yes master," she forced herself to say. Windu nodded.

"Good," he said, "then you must warn Obi-Wan about your mission if you plan to leave immediately. We will be sending out a new ship that you can take." With that, Master Windu turned away and left Claire, who was resisting the urge to mumble in frustration under her breath. Instead, she headed in the direction that she knew the infirmary to be.

As Claire headed to the infirmary to find Obi-Wan, she turned on her calling device again.

"Lieutenant Macer, do you copy?"

"Lieutenant Macer here. Is everything all right Pelatiah?" a voice came through.

"Yes, everything's all right," Claire replied, looking around absentmindedly. "I'll be tracking the droid army in a new flier… I'm taking a couple Jedi's with me."

"Do you need a pilot?" Macer asked quietly.

"I don't think I will Macer… I just want you to get yourself and the rest of the men down here to the planet. There's no reason for you to be up there…"

"Yes Commander," Macer said. Pelatiah disconnected the device, sighing again. It was going to be a long trip.


	18. Chapter 18

**{Chapter 18: Onward**

It didn't take Claire long to reach the infirmary. She was dreading having to announce to Obi-Wan Kenobi that he would, in fact, be joining Claire on her mission to wherever it was that the droid army had retreated to. When Claire walked in the infirmary, trying to decide some way to break it to the Jedi, she stopped when she saw Marcus Grindon. He was lying on a thin white bed, and there were multiple tubes stuck in his arms.

"How is he?" Claire asked, dropping all predetermined sense of coldness toward Obi-Wan as she walked over to where Grindon was. Obi-Wan looked up at her as she walked in.

"He's alive," he said, and he stood from where he was sitting and looked down at Grindon.

"They were going to wake him up actually," Obi-Wan added. Claire looked down at the fighter pilot, feeling a funny sensation in the pit of her stomach.

"Good," she said quietly. She looked up as a droid doctor rolled over to them.

"He has suffered multiple broken bones and fractures," the droid said, and Claire frowned. "We are working on healing him as quickly as possible." The droid was silent a moment.

"Would you like to speak to him?" the droid asked. Claire nodded in response, looking back down at Grindon. The droid reached over to the machine next to Marcus's bed, and pushed a few buttons. They watched as slowly, Marcus opened his eyes. He squinted at the brightness of the room, which was a bright white. He seemed to want to speak.

"Marcus," Claire said, and she looked down at him. His eyes slowly moved around until he found her.

"Pelatiah," he said, his voice hoarse.

"Yeah, it's me," Claire said, noticing her voice was grave.

"Are… they still…?" he started to ask.

"No," Claire replied, "the droid army retreated." Marcus attempted to swear, but he ended up in a coughing fit. He winced in pain.

"Did you—"

"Track them, yeah, I did," Claire finished for him.

"I'm gonna head out to follow them," Claire added. Marcus gave her a bit of a weak smile.

"You're a good commander, Jedi," he said. Claire smiled back, though grimly.

"Not as good as you, Marcus," she replied, "these men need you."

"Oh don't give me the hang-in-there speech," Marcus said, rolling his eyes as much as he could muster, "I'm not going anywhere." Claire smiled a little more genuinely at that.

"What about… them Jedi?" Marcus asked, wincing again.

"I got down here before the droids could do anything. There was only three that got through the atmosphere…" Claire answered. Marcus nodded.

"Well you go and— and track those suckers down then, Pelatiah," he said. Claire nodded.

She turned, ready to leave.

"Claire," Marcus said again, and Claire turned.

"Yeah?" she asked.

"Try and keep alive, alright?"

Claire smiled weakly.

"I will, General," she said. And with that she turned and walked out, followed closely by a quiet Obi-Wan.

When they got outside the infirmary, Obi-Wan turned to Claire.

"So when are you leaving?" he asked, not coldly, but not warmly either. Claire was brought back to the reality of it with an uncomfortable snap. They continued walking, but Claire felt a sense of dread growing in her again.

"I'll be leaving within the hour," Claire said, "but the Jedi Council has issued that you're to go with me." Obi-Wan kept a straight face, but Claire saw something flicker across his eyes.

"I figured that," he said calmly.

"You _figured _that?" Claire asked incredulously. Obi-Wan only smirked.

"This is _our_ mission," he said back, "don't forget that." Claire felt her face flush.

"Well that's not it," she said, "We also have to take Anakin." His reaction was astonishing to Claire.

"Naturally," Obi-Wan said, and he turned and started walking toward the exit that was nearing them. Claire followed him.

"_Naturally?_" she asked, her voice a bit higher pitch than necessary, "is that all you can say? Throwing your apprentice into something like this, and all you have to say is _'naturally'?_" Obi-Wan seemed to be suppressing a smirk, but he kept calm.

"Something like this is good for a young apprentice to be involved in," he said nonchalantly. Claire felt a stab of anger at him unnatural calmness.

"Well, then he's on your hands," Claire said back, "I will not be responsible for anything that happens to him. I'm doing my job, which is tracking down these droids and finding out what we're up against."

"Then you do that, Pelatiah," Obi-Wan said, and they stopped at the entrance to the Jedi Temple.

"Then go find your apprentice, Kenobi," Claire said coldly, and she frowned quite unpleasantly at the Jedi. Obi-Wan simply nodded, and then he turned away. They went their separate ways for the time being, Obi-Wan to find his apprentice, and Claire to head out to prepare the new ship for take-off.

Claire ignored the sharp stabs of sunshine that beat down on her face, finding no solace in it's warmth as she walked outside. She found herself ranting in her mind about Obi-Wan as she walked up to R7, who was beeping exclusively to himself. Claire took a brief moment to glance over the strip of ground outside the Jedi Temple, where two droid ships and Grindon's flier had crashed. Multiple droids were rolling around, cleaning up the mess. The ground was severely scorched from the blast of the explosion of Grindon's ship, but the ships had been mostly removed, as had the droid bodies. R7, though, was resting in front of a large shiny ship, obviously Claire's new flier. It was silver, and very shiny, and Claire noticed that R7 seemed to be beeping in a tone that was neither impressed nor agitated. Claire took a moment to note this before falling in line with him.

"You know, I didn't know my hate for a person could increase so much," Claire muttered quietly, staring up at the ship. R7 beeped again, this time to Claire. Claire frowned.

"Yes, I'm talking about Kenobi again," she said, "who else would I be referring to?" R7 beeped again, and Claire rolled her eyes heavily.

"Well deal with it, because you're the only person, even though you're a droid, which I can tell this to. You should be grateful. You could be sitting, on a shelf, on Jo'ron."

R7 beeped something that sounded like a question.

"I'll tell you what's wrong now," Claire answered bitterly, "we have to take Anakin with us on the mission. And I've never seen someone so cool about it." R7 turned to Claire beeping again, slightly hysterically.

"I know R7, I know," Claire said, looking down at him, "I like Anakin too. But he's a child! An apprentice to the way of the Jedi, I know, but _still_! We're chasing a droid army, and he could get killed! And Kenobi has no worries over it!" R7 had let Claire fume, but what he beeped next made Claire become momentarily furious.

"You're siding with _Kenobi_ now!" she cried, "you think it's alright to let Anakin come along?" R7 beeped alarmingly, frantically twisting his head around. Claire clenched her fists.

"You think it'd be good for him. You think it'd be good for me," she said slowly, and slightly calmly, yet her voice was full of fire. "I'll tell you what would be good for me, R7. If Obi-Wan Kenobi could walk off a cli—" but Claire stopped when she sensed someone behind her. She turned to see Obi-Wan and Anakin waling toward them, Anakin looked jubilant, and Obi-Wan looking neutral.

"Get in the ship, R7," Claire ordered, barely turning in his direction. R7 beeped fumblingly, but he started toward the back of the ship.

"_Traitor,_" Claire hissed at R7 when the Jedi and his apprentice met them. Claire turned back to Obi-Wan, crossing her arms.

"Ready, are you?" she asked, her voice now evidently chipped with ice. Obi-Wan seemed to ignore her iciness, though he returned it quite as well.

"Yes we are," he replied.

"Are we _really_ going to follow those droids ships that attacked your fighters from Besond X?" Anakin asked Claire, a hint of excitement in his voice. Claire looked down at him, and even through she deeply regretted having to take him, she couldn't bring herself to be cross with him. She gave him one of her rare beautiful smiles, which Mercado constantly reminded her that one of those could melt a fully grown man.

"Yeah we are, and you're definitely coming with us," she said brightly. Anakin grinned up at her, and then turned to the ship.

"_Yes!_" Claire distinctly heard him say under his breath as he walked around to the back of the ship to get in after R7. Claire looked up at Obi-Wan, her smile now fading.

"I hope your Council knows what they're doing," she said darkly, and then she too turned and walked around to the back of the ship after Anakin, Obi-Wan following. But just before Claire could get in, they heard a voice behind them.

"Commander!" Claire turned abruptly to see a young man jogging toward their ship. He was wearing a dull orange flying suit. Claire backed out of the ship, Obi-Wan letting her through.

"Yes?" Claire said as the fighter reached them.

"Lieutenant Macer, Commander," the young man said, and she stopped briefly to salute her respectfully.

"Ah, Macer," Claire said, sounding slightly amused.

"Commander Pelatiah," he said quietly, "I was sent to accompany you and the Jedi Obi-Wan Kenobi's mission." Claire stared at him incredulously.

"I thought I said… I didn't need someone," she asked, careful not to sound accusatory.

"General Grindon sent me sir," Macer said back. Claire smiled at him.

"You don't have to call me 'sir', Macer," Claire said, and she reached forward, patting him on the arm.

"Oh, um, all right," he said back, seeming dazed momentarily at being addressed somewhat equally by Claire.

"But you know I'm gonna be flying this thing, right?" Claire added, looking at the fighter seriously.

"If that's your wish, s— uh, Commander," Macer said back. Claire smiled again.

"Okay, then," she said, and she turned back to her ship. Her smile faded as she looked up at the large silver flier. Without another word, she walked back up into the flier. Obi-Wan looked at Macer, who was watching Claire walk in. His gaze met Obi-Wan's, and Obi-Wan waved him into the flier.

When inside, Claire found R7 and Anakin in an animated discussion over something that sounded remotely like how to control the ship.

"Anakin," Claire said, and Anakin stopped talking to look up at Claire. Claire gestured toward Lieutenant Macer who had finally entered the ship.

"This is Lieutenant Macer," she said, "He'll be joining us on the flight." Anakin eyed Macer almost suspiciously.

"Is he going to be flying the ship?" he asked. Claire smiled again.

"No he's not," she said, "that's my job." With that as her final words before the ship closed up behind Obi-Wan, Claire made her way over to the cockpit of the flier. Obi-Wan followed her soundlessly. Lieutenant Macer looked around a moment before awkwardly sitting down on the opposite side of the ship from R7 and Anakin. Up in the cockpit, Claire settled herself in the Captain's chair. Obi-Was seated himself, much to Claire's displeasure, on Claire's right. Claire, trying not to look tenuously confused by some of the control, fingered a few of them, waiting for the ship to fire up. Obi-Wan watched her skeptically.

"Do you know what you're doing?" he finally dared to ask. Right at that moment, the ship roared to life.

"Of course I do," Claire answered coldly, and she grabbed the steering device in front of her.

"Let's get this over with," Claire muttered under her breath, and she pushed a few buttons. Soon the ship was leaving the ground.

"R7," Claire called, "I need you to transfer the information from the tracking device to the directional system of the ship." R7 beeped in reply, and Claire waited, the ship hovering in the air while R7 transferred the information. Suddenly a holographic image appeared in front of Claire. It was a map of the stars, indicating the direction of the droid army.

"Ha, got you," Claire mumbled, and she punched in the coordinates of the army for the ship. She sighed as the ship set a course for the droid army. _This is going to be a long trip,_ Claire thought as the ship lifted up higher into the air, facing the empty atmosphere beyond them.


	19. Chapter 19

**Chapter 19: Space**

"Your face is bleeding."

Claire looked over at Obi-Wan, who had been silent for a good time. He was watching Claire through the corner of his eye.

"Wha—" Claire started, confused, and she reached up to the side of her face. There was a long gash there, just behind her hairline, and it was bleeding slowly.

"Blast," Claire muttered, and she wiped furiously at it to get it off her face.

"Here," Obi-Wan said, and Claire took the strip of cloth that Obi-Wan was handing to her.

"Thanks," she mumbled, and she pressed the cloth to her head. It was silent between the both of them as they traveled trough the empty space. They had started out smoothly at first, traveling normally, until they were quite a ways away from Coruscant. Then Claire put the ship into hyper drive, where it ended up in the galaxy that the droid army was in. Since the large droid army did not have hyper speed, they were forced to tail them at normal travel, which Claire was forced to keep slow so they weren't detected by the army. So now they were traveling smoothly again, though slowly. And things had been extremely silent. But now, Claire assumed that Obi-Wan must be getting tired of the cold silence.

"So why Coruscant?" he asked suddenly, not looking over at her again. Claire took the cloth away from her face, smirking, and looking over at the Jedi.

"Are we really going to try civilized conversation again?" she asked incredulously. Obi-Wan finally looked over at her again, his eyes slightly cold.

"Might as well," he replied, gesturing toward empty space. Claire looked away, carefully folding the cloth in her hands absentmindedly.

"Why Coruscant…" she repeated to herself, as if pondering the question.

"It was the only job available. And how can I say no to the Council anyway?" Obi-Wan looked over at Claire again, thinking about this. He knew quite well that she was trying to impress her Council on Jo'ron so she could be issued a Padawan for training. That was one thing he pitied about her.

"But at first… I really was excited to get to go there. Two years ago anyway," Claire continued. She waited a moment, almost expecting Obi-Wan to say something, but he didn't. So she continued.

"I mean, what Jedi in their right mind wouldn't want to go to the Imperial Planet, where the Chancellor and the Queen of the republic reside? So yes, I wanted to go. Of course, my passion always lied with going to Xenus 4…" she paused; and Obi-Wan took that to give her a questioning look. Claire noticed his silence and looked over at him to see his curiosity.

"Isn't that the planet…?" he started.

"Yeah, the one in the Tendoron system. Primitive, but civilized. And the Republic is working on them…" Claire answered. Obi-Wan nodded in understanding. Claire continued, her voice beginning to soften.

"Of course, me being the Jedi who was neither an apprentice nor a Jedi Knight, on top of the fact that I'm a female Jedi," she said the last part of that statement quite coldly, "I would never be given the opportunity to go to Xenus 4 because only the experience Jedi could go… Not even Mercado Faleur has been there, and he's on the Council on Jo'ron. But when I heard that I was to be going to Coruscant... that was a chance in a life time. I thought the Council had finally recognized me for being worthy of more than the status that I was… I suppose the mission on Coruscant wasn't that bad, of course, but still… I felt like they were simply trying to get me out of their way." She stopped, her gaze focused outside.

"Maybe they were trying to test you," Obi-Wan suggested quietly. Claire looked over at him, looking incredulous.

"Testing me?" she asked, "for what?"

"To see if you would take such a mundane job," Obi-Wan replied. Claire pondered this a moment. She couldn't think of what to say back to that. Maybe that was the truth. Maybe the Council was simply trying to see if she was willing to do anything they said… Claire remained silent and she gazed out of the window wordlessly. The stars floated by, worry-free. _If only I could be worry-free_… She thought sympathetically. Then she thought again about what Obi-Wan said.

"Have you ever considered asking to join the Council…?" she asked dismissively. To her astonishment, Obi-Wan was quite silent.

"I've…thought about it. But with Anakin…" he finally said, but his voice trailed. Claire understood. He already had a lot to deal with. Once more it got quiet. Wanting vaguely to continue a decent conversation, Claire spoke up again.

"So why Coruscant for you? Do you live there?" She felt slightly foolish asking, since the answer seemed mostly obvious and it would occur to him that she was feebly trying to keep the conversation going. But Obi-Wan surprised her again.

"No," he said, "not really. I used to stay there all the time, when I was Qui-Gon Jinn's apprentice… But it's been some time since I was there because of Anakin. We've been quite busy on other missions. In fact, we've only been at Coruscant for a few days, only a day maybe before you arrived." Claire pondered this, feeling a little grateful that he wasn't scoffing at her about her attempts to keep the conversation going.

"I'm curious about Master Faleur," Obi-Wan said after some time, and Claire dared to look over at him. He was still staring out of the window.

"What about him?" Claire began, but she had a feeling of what he was about to bring up.

"I noticed that you talk about him a lot. You two are very close," he said quietly. Claire looked away as Obi-Wan looked over at her.

"We've known each other for… a number of years. As long as I can remember…" Claire answered, and she stopped for a moment, not too keen on sharing everything. "Like I said, after my Master was killed, Mercado took me in and finished my training only because he knew me and he knew I needed the help. He was very considerate, since no one else seemed to want to help me." Claire was quiet a moment, as she thought about the times that Mercado had taught her.

"He taught me everything I know," Claire added, and then she looked over at Obi-Wan, "so yeah. We're pretty close. He's like my brother." She and Obi-Wan kept their gaze for the longest time, and Claire knew that he was contemplating what she said. Claire was only curious about why he wanted to know about her and Mercado's relationship. At last Claire broke their eye contact and looked out into the stars. Her mind still wandered toward Mercado, and Claire felt a pang of lonesome. She was stuck in space with a Jedi she hardly knew, and Mercado was millions of miles away. Claire shook her head remorsefully, trying not to think that way. She opened her mouth to speak, but she faltered, unable to think of anything to stay. She occupied herself with a small button on her chair, staring intently at it while the silence droned on uncomfortably. Every now and then she cast a swift glance over at Obi-Wan, who continued to stare absentmindedly out the window. Claire then focused her attention to the holographic image that was displaying the course of the droid army. They were still headed straight for seemingly nothing. This gave Claire no consolation. It was going to be an even longer trip of uncomfortable silence.

After a number of minutes, Claire finally shook her head in dejection, and leaned her head back against her seat. This caused Obi-Wan to look over in her direction at her sudden movement.

"I need some rest," Claire mumbled, sensing the Jedi's gaze, but not returning it. She fell silent after that, almost wishing Obi-Wan would say something. But he didn't. Claire closed her eyes, and soon she was asleep, her breathing regulated and her eyes closed peacefully. For a moment Obi-Wan watched her sleep. _She's quite bearable when she's asleep,_ he thought to himself, and he smirked slightly before turning to glace outside once more.

When Claire awoke some time later, it was because Obi-Wan was shoving her in the shoulder, a frown on his face.

"Pelatiah, wake up," he said, not gently but not roughly either. Her head was lolling to the side, and Claire opened her eyes, blinking away tears at the brightness of the cockpit. She briefly registered the bit of the dream she could remember, which included a ship on fire, Mercado yelling at her, and being stuck in a very dark place with Obi-Wan Kenobi. The latter part of it freaked Claire out for a moment, but she quickly pushed this to the back of her mind when she saw Obi-Wan's concerned expression. Claire sat up straight, gazing out into the stars once more.

"What is it Kenobi?" she asked, her voice hoarse.

"The droid army," Obi-Wan replied, and he motioned toward the holographic image in front of Claire. Claire focused her gaze on it, and as she looked at it, she roughly shook her head.

"Whoa," she said, and she peered closer at it.

"Blast," she said, her voice rising, full of concern, "their heading into a planetary atmosphere!" Claire stopped, and she reached down into her bag, rummaging through it.

"When did they start heading there?" she asked Obi-Wan as she pulled out her communication device.

"Only minutes ago. I wasn't paying close attention to it," Obi-Wan replied. Claire didn't respond. She put the device on her ear, and then called in R7. The little droid came rolling in, followed by Anakin. Claire ignored a pang of surprise; she almost forgot about Obi-Wan's apprentice.

"R7," she said, "I need to get a hold of the fighters on Coruscant," Claire said to the droid. R7 beeped in response, and Claire watched as a small antenna extended out of his head and began twirling to try and find a signal.

"Lieutenant Paloden, this is Commander Pelatiah do you copy?" Claire said into the device. Only static met her ears.

"Lieutenant Paloden, do you copy?"

Still nothing. Claire frowned, holding back her tongue. She reached over and clicked a few buttons on the ship, and she tried calling out again. Still nothing.

"_Blast,_" Claire muttered strongly, and she turned to R7.

"Can't you get a better signal?" she asked. But before R7 could reply, Claire heard a new sound. The static broke, and it sounded as though a voice was trying to come in. Claire turned back to the window of the ship, staring out inattentively.

"Hello?" she asked, pushing the device farther in her ear to hear anything.

"Commander Pelatiah?" a voice broke through, "this is Lieutenant Paloden."

"Thank God," Claire muttered. "Lieutenant, do you have the holographic information on the whereabouts of the droid army?"

"Yes, I can pull that up now," Paloden replied, and Claire could hear the slight confusion in his voice.

"Good," Claire said, "I need you to determined what planet it is that they've landed on," Claire said, a little more quieter. Claire could tell that he took that as a bit of shocking information. But he didn't reply, so Claire was forced to wait patiently.

"Okay," Paloden said after a few moments of silence. "You are in… the Draewes System. The planet that the droid army has landed on is… Riaga IV." Claire pondered this. They had been traveling a long way, and they didn't even know it.

"Riaga IV is merely a desert planet, and clearly uninhabited," Paloden added. Claire noticed a bit of static in his voice.

"Paloden, is it safe?" she asked quickly.

"It appears—" but suddenly Paloden's voice cut out and Claire never heard whether the planet was safe or not.

"Paloden! Lieutenant! Come in!" Claire cried. She swore something in another language for the sake of Anakin, pushing a few buttons on the dashboard. But the signal was lost.

"Great," Claire said, giving up and ripping the device out of her ear. R7 made an apologetic sound.

"It's not your fault, R7," Claire mumbled, and she brought a hand to her head.

"What do we do?" Obi-Wan asked quietly. Claire let go of her face, looking over at him.

"We're going to have to follow those droids," she said.

"What if the planet is incapable of supporting us?" Anakin asked suddenly. Claire looked over at him.

"Well, we're going to have to take that chance," she said softly. She looked back over at Obi-Wan, who seemed to be contemplating the new situation. Claire looked away from him, gazing out into the stars. Off in the distance, she could see Riaga IV looming closer. Claire sighed inwardly.

"We have to go there," she said once more. Without another glance at Obi-Wan, Claire set the ship to a higher speed, and set off for the new planet.


	20. Chapter 20

**Chapter 20: Riaga IV**

"We are entering the atmosphere," Claire announced, trying to keep her voice calm. She found herself getting more and more nervous as the time went by, not knowing whether Riaga IV was even going to be safe or not for them to walk on. But it was crucial that they land on the planet and pursue the droid army. Obi-Wan obviously sensed Claire's distress, for he kept casting glances over at her from the corner of his eye. Claire was very tempted to tell him to stop, but she couldn't bring herself to do so. For once, she found herself actually slightly relieved to have someone else with her on the trip. Though, at the same time, that extra companion being _him_, it only made Claire feel worse. And the fact that Anakin was with them, made it even harder for Claire to concentrate. She kept thinking to herself, _what if it's not safe for him?_ She would be held responsible if something horrible happened on behalf of her.

Claire shook her head roughly, trying to stop thinking of the negative aspects of the mission. Instead, as she watched the atmosphere burn around her ship, she tried to think of the good things. For a moment Claire sat there, lost in her own thoughts, trying to keep a positive demeanor. Meanwhile, Obi-Wan was still casting glances at Claire, and he could see her eyes glazing over in thought. He was tempted, momentarily, to reach over and shake her roughly to snap her out of her thoughts, but he resisted and instead focused on the planet that was beginning to slide into view through the burning atmosphere. At last Claire gave up, and she shook her head again, scolding herself on the inside. Now was not the time to sit and think about things, when there was a mission ahead, as well as danger. Claire gripped her steering wheel harder, trying not to show her panic through any form. But she knew that Obi-Wan knew better than to think she was okay. In fact, Obi-Wan was very tempted to speak up and say something to scold Claire out of her fears. But instead he kept quiet, knowing that saying something would further upset Claire, and maybe even cause problems.

Finally, the ship broke through the sizzling atmosphere, and ground could be seen coming up at them. Claire took in a deep breath, feeling the exhilarating rush as she watched themselves plunge toward the ground. Behind her, Claire could sense Anakin and R7 watching out of the window, most likely fascinated by the almost-terrifying scene laid out in front of them. Claire reached over and hit a few buttons, trying to start up the landing gear. The ship groaned, and Claire frowned.

"That's odd," she muttered, and she flipped the switches again.

"What's wrong?" Obi-Wan asked. Claire ignored him, and tried the switches again. This time the ship groaned again, and suddenly something let out an ear-splitting crack and the ship lurched.

"What the blazes—?" Obi-Wan cried, and he and Claire were thrown forward as the ship lurched.

"The landing gear just snapped," Claire said calmly, regaining her posture. A fierce look had crossed her face, and Obi-Wan had the distinct impression that she was fuming on the inside.

"What?" Obi-Wan replied, staring at Claire in disbelief.

"You heard me," Claire said, and she looked over at Obi-Wan with a cold glare.

"What is wrong with your people? Always giving the foreigners the junk," she said even colder than her glare. Obi-Wan flushed in anger and opened his mouth in reply, but his stark reply never came because R7 started beeping madly. Both Claire and Obi-Wan turned to look at R7.

"What, R7?" Claire asked.

"He says the ship is gaining speed!" Anakin said, looking up at Claire and his master.  
"What—" Claire gasped, and she turned back to the dashboard. The passenger's all looked out the window, seeing the ground coming at them at an awfully fast speed.

"Oh. Great. Just lovely," Claire said, her voice a pitch higher than normal. Suddenly Obi-Wan got out of his chair and moved over to where Claire was.

"Hey—" Claire started, but Obi-Wan moved past her. He starting clicking buttons, and Claire watched in frustration.

"What are you doing?" She cried, trying to get around him to take control of the ship.

"Get over there and look for the emergency hatch release valve," Obi-Wan said, his voice calm, very much unlike Claire's.  
"Excuse me, but I believe this is _my_ ship," Claire said hotly. Obi-Wan turned to Claire for a moment, his eyes full of authority that Claire had never seen him give her.

"This may be your ship, but _my_ _people_ made it, therefore I know what I am doing," he said, his voice dark. Claire stopped, staring at him. She seemed to be debating something in her mind.

"What do you want me to do?" Claire finally said, the coldness in her voice gone, and replaced by submission.

"Find the emergency hatch release valve," Obi-Wan repeated again, turning back to the controls in front of him, "it will help to slow down the ship." Claire obeyed, trying to ignore the inner sense of rebellion to Obi-Wan Kenobi's authority. Claire searched through the buttons, trying to find the button she was looking for. Finally she found it. Her hand resting over it, and Claire looked up from the button and over at Obi-Wan Kenobi. He stopped long enough to look over at Claire.

"Push it," he said. Claire looked him in the eye, unsure of what to do.

"This will open the emergency hatches," she said, "It could let the oxygen out of the cockpit, and kill us if the planet is not safe enough." Obi-Wan looked at her, and for a moment his eyes softened gently toward Claire, and she knew that he had already contemplated this.

"Pelatiah," Obi-Wan finally said, "push it." Claire looked back at Anakin and R7. Anakin was already strapped in his seat, R7 next to him. She looked at Anakin, and she knew the danger she was putting him in. It was too much of a risk. Claire was just about to remove her hand from the button, ready to tell Obi-Wan to give it up and that she was ready to crash land than risk their lives this way, when abruptly, the ship began to shake tremulously. Claire gasped and looked back out the cockpit window. The ground was coming up at them rapidly, and Claire that it was either now, or never, that she listened to Obi-Wan.

"Push it!" Obi-Wan cried, his own hand resting on the other emergency hatch release valve. Claire almost screamed in anguish, and she started to remove her hand.

"_Claire, push it now!_"

Claire finally threw her hand forward, and she hit the button. All at once, the main emergency hatches to the ship, near the wings, flew open, and all noise was blocked out by the roaring of the wind. Claire gripped onto the dashboard, her eyes tightly closed. The oxygen was still flowing through the cockpit, but Claire couldn't bring herself to breath properly. At last, she opened her eyes to look out in dread at the oncoming planet. It was, in fact, slowing down. But they still had a crash landing to take care of. Claire quickly jumped out of the crouched position she was in, and she made her way over to Obi-Wan, who was also gripping the dashboard. She leaned over him, grabbing the steering wheel. Obi-Wan pulled himself up, watching Claire. The whole of the ship was rocking tremendously as the wind whipped in and out of the ship, screaming in their ears like a terrible nightmare. Claire took notice, as she flipped a few switches and yanked the steering wheel, trying to take control of the free-falling ship, that they were still breathing amazingly, and that the oxygen was still flowing through the cockpit. For a brief moment Claire registered in her min that the planet was at least safe enough that they might be able to walk on it safely without fear of suffocation.

"Pelatiah," Obi-Wan yelled in her ear over the sound of the rushing wind, "do you think that you can get us safely to the ground?" Claire frowned to herself, thinking about his question.

"I believe I can," Claire finally replied, and she hoped to herself that she was right.

"You guys might want to hang on tight," Claire said, turning her head to address Anakin and R7 in the back of the cockpit. Anakin nodded, and he gripped the arms of his chair tighter. Claire then turned to Obi-Wan.

"Buckle up," she said with a smirk, and then, as Obi-Wan buckled himself in the chair next to Claire, Claire reached over and smacked the landing gear button again. Again, it groaned loudly as it came out again, and even though it was broken, Claire at least thought that it might help break the landing a little. Then, abruptly, Claire closed her eyes, grabbed the wheel, and jerked it toward herself as hard as she could. The ship suddenly lurched, and Claire sensed the nose of the ship fly upward, and the back of the ship rolled forward to bring them to the ground. Claire opened her eyes just enough to see the ground falling behind them and the sun broke through the windshield. And all at once there was a BOOM, and the ship landed. Everyone lurched forward, and Claire had to grab the dashboard so her head wouldn't smack the steering wheel, and the ship starting skidding across the brown dirt. Dust flew everywhere, and Claire jerked the steering wheel again to slow down the ship. She could hear the landing gear scraping against the ground, grinding as it hit rocks and holes alike. The wind, though, had finally stopped roaring so tremendously, and the oxygen was still present. At last, the ship made one more skid, and came to rest as it hit a large rock on the outside of the ship.

Claire stopped, letting go of the steering wheel. She fell backward onto her chair, looking quite disheveled.

"Well," Claire said, "I told you I could land this thing." Obi-Wan was staring at Claire, almost in disbelief that she had not crashed them into the planet like he somewhat expected.

"You guys okay back there?" Claire asked, as she remembered Anakin and R7. She turned, looking at them. Anakin looked a bit disheveled himself, but when he saw Claire, he grinned.

"That was awesome!" He said, and R7 beeped weakly in reply. Claire couldn't help but smile slightly at that. She looked over at Obi-Wan, now curious to see what he'd want to do next. But before she could say anything, there was a noise behind them. Claire and Obi-Wan whipped around as a hatch opened at the back of the cockpit like someone was entering. Like lightening, and as if thinking the same thing, both Claire and Obi-Wan jumped out of their seats, their light sabers out and ready for combat. They faced the door, ready for anything. Suddenly a head poked through the door. A very disgruntled and shocked, but familiar face appeared.

"What the _blazes_ is going on?" Lieutenant Macer said, staring wide-eyed at Claire and Obi-Wan who had their light sabers pointed at him. Claire was the first to lower hers, followed by the other Jedi.

"Macer," Claire said with a breath of relief, "sorry about that, rough landing." Macer stared at her unsure of what to say. When he said nothing, Claire turned to Obi-Wan.

"Well, what are we gonna do?" she asked. Obi-Wan thought a moment, a bit of a frown crossing his countenance.

"The obvious thing to do would be to go and follow the droids," he replied, "but we still don't know how safe the planet is…"

"Well, then," Claire said, and she tucked her light saber into her belt, "let's get to it."

"You're not going," Obi-Wan said suddenly. Claire stopped just as she was pulling on her cloak.

"Excuse me?" she said.

"I said, you're not going out there to check, I am," Obi-Wan repeated, serious.

"How sweet, trying to sacrifice yourself," Claire said with a mock-sweet tone, "please. Don't try it." Obi-Wan simply glared at her.

"I'm not worried about your safety," he said coldly, "I'm more worried about what my Council will say when they find out that I let you go out there alone to see if it's safe." Claire flushed angrily.

"Well you can't go because _you_ have a Padawan, I don't," Claire said hotly. This time Obi-Wan flushed in anger.

"Hey!" Anakin suddenly said before Obi-Wan could reply to Claire, "I wanna go too!"

"_No,_" both Obi-Wan and Claire said at the same time, turning toward Anakin. Anakin leaned back in his seat, a pouting look crossing his face.

"Hey, I can go," Macer pointed out.

"No, _you're_ staying here," Claire said to him, "you're going to be watching _him_." Claire pointed at Anakin. Macer looked at Anakin, and Anakin rolled his eyes. He muttered something and Claire distinctly heard something like "child" and "stupid." Claire turned back to Obi-Wan.

"Fine," she said bitterly, "we'll both go. After all, this is _our_ mission, right?" Obi-Wan simply looked at her with loathing.

"Fine," he said. Claire scowled at him, and then slipped on her cloak. Obi-Wan grabbed his own cloak, and followed Claire. She pushed the hatch button next to the door to open the hatch leading outside. Macer watched, slightly disconcerted.

"Are you sure Commander—?" he started, looking at her. As the hatch to the outside opened, Claire looked over at Macer with sympathy.

"Lieutenant," she said quietly, "I know what I'm doing." Macer nodded, and then saluted her.

"Aye, Commander."

And then Claire stepped outside, followed closely by Obi-Wan. The hatch to the ship closed behind them slowly.

Out on the planet, Claire blinked as she looked up at the sky.

"It seems safe enough," Claire said quietly, listening. It was very quiet, very much unlike Coruscant. It was also very deserted-looking as well. As far as the eye could see, it was barren and plant-less, save for a few scrubby brushes. Claire took a deep breath.

"So this is Riaga IV…"


	21. Chapter 21

**Chapter 21: Seek and Destroy**

Obi-Wan Kenobi pulled out a small device, clicking a few buttons. Claire watched him from the corner of her eye, slightly curious as to what he was doing.

"The oxygen in the atmosphere is, surprisingly, safe enough to sustain life on this planet," Obi-Wan said finally, frowning to himself.

"I wonder why no one has populated this planet...?" Obi-Wan voiced, and Claire thought about his question.

"Maybe it's not safe enough for continuous living," she suggested, "or no one has really discovered this planet."

"Or," Obi-Wan said, and he looked over at Claire seriously, "it _is_ already populated." Claire met his gaze, and felt a cold shudder run through her spine. They were both thinking the same thing— the droid army's leader was already stationed on this planet. Or something worse. Claire released her gaze from Obi-Wan's face, and she gazed out across the planet again. To one side, it was barren and flat. To the other, however, there was rolling hills and jagged mountains that were overhanging deep valleys.

"Which way, Commander?" Obi-Wan asked, and Claire heard what sounded like a bit of sarcasm in his voice.

"This way," Claire said, pointing toward the mountains and crevices, "it will keep up mostly hidden in case of— attack." Obi-Wan nodded in agreement, and he stowed his device into his cloak.

"How will we even know how to find them?" Obi-Wan asked suddenly. Claire stopped, and she thought about his question— she was stumped. But only for a moment; she then pulled out her calling device, stuck it in her ear, and pressed the button.

"R7, can you read me?"

It was quiet a moment, and then static was picked up by the transmitter, followed by a small beeping.

"R7?" Claire asked again. R7 beeped in response.

"Yeah, I know I have to get a new transmitter," Claire said, and she cracked a small smile.

"Look R7, we have a bit of a situation," Claire added, "We need to track the droids. Do you think you could come with us?" R7 beeped something, and Claire frowned.

"R7, Macer's there. It's not necessary that you stay with Anakin," she said. R7 replied, and Claire rolled her eyes.

"Fine, have it your way, don't help us then," she said bitterly. Before she could disconnect the device though, R7 beeped something else that stopped Claire. She frowned as she listened.

"Are you sure that will work?"

R7 beeped.

"Alright then," Claire replied, "we'll be back as soon as we can. You guys take care."

Claire took the device out of her ear, Obi-Wan watching patiently.

"Well?" Obi-Was asked.

"Give me that device you have," Clare motioned toward him.

"What?" Obi-Wan asked, caught off guard.  
"Trust me," Claire said, looking up at him. Almost reluctantly, Obi-Wan pulled the device out and handed it to Claire. Claire took it, and starting jabbing a few buttons.

"What are you doing to it?" Obi-Wan asked, watching her carefully.

"Hacking it," Clair said, and a small smile played at the corner of her lips. After a moment or two, she stopped, and she pressed one more button. A small holographic image appear just then, and Claire actually smiled.  
"There," she said triumphantly, and showed it to the Jedi.

"Now we can follow the droids. Oh, and I was right, it _is_ that way," Claire added, and she smirked up at Obi-Wan. Obi-Was was speechless. Claire handed him his device back, and closed the holographic device. Claire turned from him, still smirking at his speechlessness.

"Let's get moving," she said, and she walked away toward the rugged mountains laid before them. Obi-Wan followed after her, intent on not saying anything in order to not allow any more victory over their rivalry.

Claire heaved herself over the rocks, trying not to slip and fall. It was mostly an easy crossing, but there were a few areas that were very difficult to maneuver, such as this one. Obi-Wan was ahead of her, pulling out his tracking device to make sure they were still on the correct path. The device showed the direction in which they needed to travel, and how far from it they were. According to the device, they were a couple miles from were the droids were supposed to be. Claire tried not to let her exhaustion show on her face. The last thing she needed was Obi-Wan thinking she was weak. Claire pulled herself up on a rock, reached for the ledge on which Obi-Wan was waiting for her. Obi-Wan was putting his device away once more, when Claire touched the ledge where she tried to pull herself up. Suddenly, the rocks loosened under her fingers, and she felt them crumbling.

"Blast!" Claire cried, and she tried reach farther up. As she did so, she began to loose her footing. She gasped, trying to grab for anything. It was then that Obi-Wan reached down and tried to grab her arm. But it was too late. Claire was already falling. She didn't even scream— she just tumbled, knowing she wouldn't make it. But suddenly, as she fell, she felt her cloak catch on the rocks, and it took her a moment to realize that she had finally stopped falling. She was a good two or three feet from the ledge, and Obi-Wan was reaching down toward her.  
"Grab my hand!" He yelled, and Claire looked up at him. He was staring at her with wide-eyes, and with such concern that Claire was shocked to see actual compassion coming from him. Claire looked up at his hand, and then the ledge. She could do it. She could show him that she wasn't weak.

"I can do it," Claire said through her teeth, and she scowled. Obi-Wan scowled as well.

"Don't be stupid," he said harshly, "just take my hand!"

"I'll show you," Claire muttered darkly, and instead she reached toward another rock on the wall to avoid Obi-Wan's hand. But as she did so, she found that her movement caused her cloak to tear away from the rock that was holding her, and she started to fall backward.

"Oh God!" Claire said, and she let out a scream as she started to fall again. This time, Obi-Wan reached down and grabbed Claire's hand himself. Claire closed her eyes as she felt Obi-Wan's hand wrap around her wrist, and pull her up. When she felt him pulling her up, Claire reached with her other hand, and grasped Obi-Wan's hand with her own. Then she opened her eyes as she saw the ledge nearing toward her. All at once Claire forced herself onto the edge of the cliff, and she fell onto the ground, her chest heaving. Obi-Wan knelt on the ground beside her, breathing heavily as well.

"Why can't you just listen..?" he asked. Claire raised her head to look up at him, too shocked and thankful to give a smart reply.

"Thank you," she said instead, quietly. With that, she pulled herself up, Obi-Wan following suit. Claire brushed herself off. As she did so, she realized that she was missing her cloak.

"Oh no," she said dejectedly and she looked out over the cliff, seeing her cloak fluttering to the ground below them.  
"Don't worry about it," Obi-Wan said, "we have to keep moving." Claire nodded, feeling regretful for not listening to Obi-Wan sooner.

The pair of Jedi's trudged on further, and Claire was careful to keep behind Obi-Wan and follow his steps. Pretty soon they found themselves near the top of a high mountain. Stopping again, Obi-Wan pulled out his device again. He frowned as he read it.

"It still says we're a half a mile from where they are," he said, confusion in his voice.

"Maybe they're still on the move?" Claire suggested. Obi-Wan shook his head.  
"No, that's not possible," he said, "It says they're still in the same area…" Claire frowned now, and she reached for the device.

"May I see it?" she asked. For a moment Obi-Wan stopped. Was that politeness he sensed in her voice? But he handed it to Claire anyway. She looked at it, and frowned too.

"That is strange…" She muttered. As she looked at it, she walked a little ways further, up the mountain. Obi-Wan followed her, keeping an eye out to make sure she didn't fall again. They finally reached the top of the mountain, and Claire was still looking at the hologram.

"It says we're even farther!" she said. But Obi-Wan had stopped, He was staring down the mountain, speechless a moment.

"I don't think we need that anymore," he said quietly. Claire looked up, and followed Obi-Wan's gaze. Right there, below them, was a deep crevice. And in the crevice was hundreds of droid ships. Claire's jaw dropped slightly as she stared down into the ominous hole below them.

"Well, that would definitely explain why it says we're getting farther from them," Claire muttered quietly, regaining herself. Obi-Wan looked over at Claire.

"Ladies first," he said, almost smirking again. Claire resisted the urge to scowl at him, and instead she dropped herself down on a ledge below them, as carefully as she could. Obi-Wan followed her, still keeping a wary eye for her. The way down wasn't as awful as it may have seemed from the top, with the many jagged edges. There was quiet a few footholds, and it wouldn't be hard to hide if a droid came out and saw them. At last Claire reached a point in the crevice where she could see farther into what looked like a cave the lead into the wall.

"Hey, check it out," Claire said quietly, hearing her voice echo slightly. Obi-Wan dropped down beside her, staring into the cave. There were a couple droid ships near this entrance, so it seemed likely that some may have entered through the hole. Claire looked over at Obi-Wan.

"You think it's an entrance?" she asked. Obi-Wan nodded.

"It seems so," he said quietly. He glanced around, taking note of the droid ships.

"We need to keep an eye out though," he added. Claire nodded, and she led the way into the cave, careful not to make any noise that would alert their enemies of their presence.

The inside of the cave was slightly damp, and it had an eerie musky smell that caused Claire's nose to itch somewhat. She prayed quietly that it would not cause her to sneeze abruptly.

"I'll check over here," Obi-Wan said quietly, and he nodded, toward a dark part of the cave that seemed to dip down slightly. Claire noticed that there was a bit of light coming from that side, but she went the opposite direction in order to cover more ground. She didn't get far before she heard a small gasp, and then Obi-Wan whispered in her direction.

"Claire," he said quietly, "come over here…" Claire turned around, and she headed toward Obi-Wan's voice. The floor of the cave dipped down slightly like she though, and the roof seemed to come down farther as well, forcing her to bend her knees until she was crouching alongside Obi-Wan. As she did so, the echo of her name from Obi-Wan's voice still reverberated softly against the wall, and for a moment Claire registered that he had used her name for a second time. Her first name, not her last name. Obi-Wan looked over at Claire then, he put his finger to his lips in silence before gesturing down past himself through the cave. Claire leaned up against where Obi-Wan was, and she realized that they were at the edge of a small cliff that was overhanging a large cut-out in the cave. And inside the cut-out were lights and machines, and droid ships. There were also droids and other alien beings that were situated around the cave, some in groups as if in discussion. Claire gaped at the sight, realizing that they had just landed themselves in the center of the droid army's command center.

"Obi-Wan," Claire said quietly, "we just found—"

"Yes, I know," Obi-Wan replied, looking over at Claire. Claire stopped, meeting Obi-Wan's gaze. They both knew what they needed to do.

"We need to get back to the ship," Claire said quietly,  
"How are we to get off the planet?" Obi-Wan asked, "Our landing gear is broke. We might not be able to fly off on ours." Claire almost face-palmed herself.

"Oh blast, I almost forgot," she said quietly back.

"But you're right," Obi-Wan added, "we should get back… warn your pilots of the situation. That way they can at least get here before the droid army has the chance to get off." Claire nodded. She began to stand up, as did Obi-Wan Kenobi, when suddenly Claire's head rapped against the top of the cave. She let out a small gasp, and Obi-Wan reached forward, clapping a hand over her mouth. Claire almost screamed in protest and agony; at the pain, and at Obi-Wan for his sudden movement. Claire shoved his hand away, glaring, her head throbbing.

"Are you okay?" Obi-Wan asked her in a whisper. Claire almost wanted to scream, "Do you _think_ I'm okay?" But instead she just nodded, and placed a hand on her head. Obi-Wan gave her an apologetic look, and they began to edge their way out of the cave. But as they did, Claire noticed that the awful musky smell that was lingering became worse when she smacked the roof of the cave. Now her nose was itching again, and suddenly she feared the worse. Before she could help herself, Claire reared back, and abruptly let out a sneeze. She tried to cover it, but because of the wonderful effect of reverberation in the cave, the sound was magnified ten times the normal sound. Claire and Obi-Wan stopped in mid tracks, hearing the sound reverberating off the walls. Claire forced herself to look down into the cut-out to see the droids, and what she saw made her heart grow cold. All the droids and aliens were staring up at the source of the noise, and for a moment all was silent. Claire briefly believed that they may not have seen them after all, but all at once that hope was shattered as the aliens began screaming battle cries.


	22. Chapter 22

**Chapter 22: Betrayed**

"Time to go!" Claire said loudly, and she grabbed Obi-Wan's arms before he could move himself. No longer caring about being stealthy, the pair of Jedi's dashed through the cave, overturning rocks and making a loud ruckus. In an instant, Claire was running at the rock wall, climbing it. Obi-Wan was only a step behind her. As they climbed as fast as they could, Claire could hear in the cave, the sounds of the droids attempting to find their way out in order to reach the intruders. She could also hear hundreds of droid ships firing up their engines in order to look for the Jedi the easy way.

Claire didn't stop moving until she was at the top of the familiar rock wall, which was over-hanging the crevice below them. Obi-Wan came alongside her, looking down into the crevice.

"You had to sneeze," Obi-Wan said roughly. Claire looked over at him in disbelief.

"Don't give me that, it's not my fault," she said harshly. Obi-Wan's gaze softened. But only for a moment. Suddenly he grabbed Claire's arm, pulling her down. Claire gasped as she felt themselves slipping down the rocks. But in a moment she understood why Obi-Wan threw the both of them down the cliff and onto a plateau; the roaring of an engine filled the air above them, and Claire gasped when she saw a ship fly over them in close proximity.

"Oh my—" but she didn't have the chance to speak. Obi-Wan pulled her up again, pulling her along. They had found themselves on a low plateau that ran across the side of the hills. It extended quite far, and Claire hoped that it would give them some cover from the droids.

The pair of them ran along, keeping low. Before long, however, Claire realized that they had not spotted any more droids.

"Where'd they all go?" Claire asked quietly, gazing around. Obi-Wan stopped, breathing slightly heavily.

"I dunno," he answered quietly, looking around as well. Claire slowly reached her arm up past the

cliff above them, slowly pulling herself up. She looked out past the cliff, seeing the empty space.

"They're gone," she said quietly, coming back down. Obi-Wan stood up as well, looking out in the same direction as Claire.

"I think it's safe to go that way," Claire added, and before Obi-Wan could protest, Claire climbed over the top of the ledge onto the cliff. Obi-Wan sighed in exasperation, but he followed after Claire anyway.

The warm wind whipped Claire's hair around as the pair of Jedi crossed the top of the cliff. The droids seemed to have deserted the surround area, which confused Claire. But they continued to trudge along, in the hopes that they were heading the right direction. Claire soon stopped, facing the wind and the sun, squinting her eyes.

"I think the ship's that way," Claire said, pointing in the direction of the sun. Obi-Wan followed her gaze, squinting his eyes as well. He was about to reply, when suddenly, a rumbling filled the air. The both of them stopped, looking around in shock at the new noise. Soon they spotted the source of the noise. A large droid ship was rising out of a crevice in the mountain, followed by a couple smaller droid ships.

"Oh dear," Claire said, her eyes widening.

"RUN!" Obi-Wan suddenly yelled, and without having to be told twice, Claire took a leap from the cliff and began running at full speed. Obi-Wan matched her speed, keeping along side. Before they knew it, they had hit the end of the jagged mountains, and they found themselves running along patches of sliding sand. Claire yelped as she slipped, but Obi-Wan reached out and took a hold of her arm at just the right time. Claire didn't have a chance to thank the Jedi or his swift move, so instead she kicked up her speed to keep their distance from the droid ship. All the while, the ships were tailing the two Jedi. Things were going quite smooth until the droids decided to start firing. Claire let out a scream as a shot barely missed her by an inch, sizzling her clothes as it went by. They kept up their speed, until Claire noticed something that caused her to stop abruptly.

"Holy—" Claire started, but another shot cut off her voice. "Gracious! Kenobi! What do we do?" Obi-Wan didn't reply, for he had stopped along side Claire, breathing heavily again. They both were staring at the edge of a particularly large mountain ledge, which dropped down onto an endless stretch of sand below them. Claire looked over at Obi-Wan, almost reading his mind. He planned on jumping it.

"You're insane," Claire said, and another shot very close to Claire made her jump forward a few paces.  
"It's the only way off," Obi-Wan replied, "and we could take cover down there by the dunes." Claire shook her head.

"We might not make it," she said, "it's suicide!"

"And this isn't?" Obi-Wan replied, gesturing behind them at the droid ship which was still firing, and coming even closer. Claire bit her lip. But Obi-Wan didn't wait for a response from her. Instead, he reached forward, and grabbed her arm.

"Wait!" Claire said, but it was too late. Obi-Wan was already taking them toward the ledge. Claire let out a scream as they leaped, and the wind whipped at them harshly. As the sand neared them though, Claire felt a sharp pain in her leg, but she ignored it, trying to brace for the impact of the sand. In a swift motion, Obi-Wan reached around and grabbed Claire with his other arm, and suddenly they hit the sand. They went sprawling, sand flying, and Claire closed her eyes tightly for fear of sand stinging her eyes. Soon they were rolling through the sand, down a dune, until they came to a stop near a pile of green brush. As quick as their dive had happened, the droids were right behind them, until they came across the dunes. The sand had hidden the Jedi's, and the droids had lost them. Claire felt the ground rumbling underneath them, and suddenly the droid ships that were chasing them flew over head, some inches from their faces. Obi-Wan, who still had his arms clasped around Claire, pushed her into the sand as the wind and heat from the ships crossed over them.

They waited, listening for the sound of more ships. But the only sound was the previous droids who had just passed them. Claire took in a deep breath, and it was then that she realized that Obi-Wan was practically resting on top of her. Claire cringed away, pulling herself out of his grasp. He looked up, looking almost dizzy.

"Thanks," Claire said, brushing off some sand, and standing up, "for almost killing me."

"Oh you're very welcome," Obi-Wan replied smartly, and he too stood up after Claire. But Claire was actually almost smiling.

"That was a really stupid idea," Claire said.

"Well you're idea wasn't much better," Obi-Wan replied.

"I didn't even have an idea!"

"My point exactly," Obi-Wan said back, and a small smile appeared suddenly. Claire smiled just slightly back, before turning away. She took one step, before realizing that her equilibrium was shot from their tumble. She stumbled, and then fell backward. Obi-Wan caught her as she fell, and Claire let out a laugh at her clumsiness.

"I feel like I've been drinking too much ale from Jo'ron," she laughed.

"You look it too," Obi-Wan replied, laughing as well as he pulled Claire up. As he did so, they took another step, and the both of them lost their footing. They fell forward again as the dune underneath them crumbled under their weight, sending them sprawling into the sand again. Claire let out another peal of laughter as they tumbled headlong through the sand. They rolled down the hill, still gripping each other and both of them laughing, until they once again came to a stop at the bottom, the pair of them collapsed into one another, lying on the sand. Claire had a bright smile on her face, as did Obi-Wan. He was almost shocked to see such a beautiful thing like that on Claire's countenance. As the two of them stared at each other, Obi-Wan down at Claire and Claire up at Obi-Wan, the wind blew a warm breeze softly around them. Slowly, Claire's smile began to fade. This wasn't right. She wasn't supposed to be feeling this way. She looked into Obi-Wan's face, inches from her's, and her mind told her that it wasn't right. But her heart leapt with a feeling that she had never felt before. Gratitude, trust, love— Suddenly Claire pushed Obi-Wan away, sitting up and putting a hand to her head.

"We… we have to get back to the ship," she said quietly. Obi-Wan looked up at Claire, feeing slightly dejected a moment. He didn't know what came over him. He shouldn't be feeling this way about someone. He stood up after Claire, and she began walking away. Obi-Wan shook his head roughly. _Snap out of it,_ he thought solemnly, before following Claire through the sand.

Before long, the two Jedi had reached their ship, which wasn't very far from where they had been. They were silent the whole way, Claire shrunk back in her thoughts. It showed on her face, though, that she was in deep thought over something. And Obi-Wan could only think that it had something to do with him. But he said nothing. Finally they reached the ship, and Claire reached up toward the hatch. She punched in the security code for the lock that she had set on it, and then stood back as the hatch opened. Obi-Wan followed close behind her.

"R7?" Claire called as she got inside the ship. When Obi-Wan got in after her, they found themselves in an empty cockpit.

"They must be down below," Claire said aloud. She stepped into the ship, gazing around.

"R7?" she called again. As they listened for a reply, they heard something odd. A faint crackling sound reached their ears. Claire frowned.

"What the—" she started. Obi-Wan stepped past her walking further into the cockpit near the controls. The crackling got louder the further he went in. But soon, he found the source of the noise.

"Claire!" he said suddenly. Claire walked over to where he was, curious to his outburst. And what she saw made her heart grow even colder.

"R7?" she cried. She knelt down, shocked by the scene. R7 was crouched against the wall, wires poking out and hissing. His little lights were flickering, and he was making an odd sound. He looked awful.

"Oh God," Clair said, and she could feel tears beginning to come to her eyes. But she held them back because of Obi-Wan.

"R7, answer me," Claire choked. She reached out to him, and suddenly he sparked at her touch. Claire jumped back, and Obi-Wan stepped back as well.

"Oh… oh… R7…" Claire said.

"He won't answer," a voice suddenly said, "he's been like that for some time now." Claire whipped around at the familiar voice, and a wave of relief spread over her.

"Lieutenant Macer," she said, the relief in her voice. Macer only stared at them. He had an odd look in his eye, and he was standing awkwardly next to the hatch that led to the deck below them.

"Macer, what's happened to him?" Claire asked, gesturing to R7, who sparked again. Macer was quiet.

"Answer her," Obi-Wan said suddenly, darkly. Macer glanced at him, and Obi-Wan's mind trick hit him.

"He wouldn't stop screaming," Macer said just as darkly, "and he kept trying to contact you. I couldn't have that." Claire stopped, confused by what he was saying.

"What?" she asked. Obi-Wan frowned. Macer smiled tentatively.

"I knew you would come back pretty soon, seeing as it wouldn't be hard to find the droids on this pitiful planet. So I had to get him out of the picture quickly. It's a good thing you didn't try to contact him again, you might've come back early."

"What the _blazes_ are you talking about?" Claire said, her voice rising. Macer only smiled some more.

"You had no idea, the whole time," he said quietly.

"Where's Anakin?" Claire asked suddenly. Obi-Wan went cold at the mention of his Padawan. Macer smiled again.

"Safe," he said simply.

"Where is he?" Obi-Wan asked darkly again. He looked fierce. Macer looked over at Obi-Wan, and a glint-like look crossed his face. He stepped out from the hatch, and Claire saw a gun in his hand. Following his movement was Anakin, bound by a holographic-looking rope around his wrists.

"Claire!" Anakin cried. Macer hissed at Anakin.

"Shut up, boy," he said.

"Macer, _what are you doing?"_ Claire yelled in anger. His actions weren't making sense.

"Well, Pelatiah," he said darkly, "let's just say that the Council just doesn't pay us enough. The droids gave me a better deal. Or should I say, their leader gave me a better deal." Claire blinked in surprise.

"You— you—" she stammered.

"Yes, Pelatiah, I _betrayed_ you."

Claire felt a cold shiver cross her, spreading down through her spine as she realized what Macer was saying.

"This whole time… You…" she stammered, trying to connect the dots. She stopped, and she looked back at Macer who was simply looking at her with a triumphant smirk. Claire's eyes grew dark and she clenched her fists tightly.

"How long?" She asked, her voice strangely calm. Macer got a look on his face as if in thought.

"Well, since before the droid army arrived, that's for sure," he said. Claire felt a rush of anger sweep over her.

"You helped lead them to the planet, didn't you?" She said, anger beginning to flow in her voice like scalding lava, "_you_ helped try and push them through our defenses!" Macer laughed, a cold, merciless laugh that Claire would have never associated with him.

"You take so long to catch onto things, Pelatiah," he said, "if only you knew of the things many people have done, people you have _trusted_." Claire clenched her fists again. Obi-Wan looked over at Claire. He could sense the fury building inside of her, and he was almost afraid of what she would do with all of that pent up anger. He also knew the danger of anger filling her up— for anger led to the dark side, and that's what the enemies wanted, right?

"I mean, look at what's happened throughout your whole life, Pelatiah," Macer continued, and he glared with a smirk at Claire. Obi-Wan now looked at Macer, and he knew he was trying to provoke her. He had to act, fast, before either one of them did something they would regret.

"You know nothing about my life," Claire growled. Macer laughed again.

"I know a lot about you Claire," he said, "I know that you've been through hell in your life, from being rejected as a child, and even as an adult. And I also know that you can't even remember your childhood," he said. Claire felt another cold chill run through her. Obi-Wan now looked at Claire again. Was this true?

"Shut up," Claire said quietly, and she felt like a child as she stood there, both men staring at her.

"Little did you know, that even the closest people to you would end up betraying you," Macer continued, his voice growing quiet and deathly, "like your own father…"

Suddenly, at the mention of her father, Claire let out a horrendous cry, and with such swiftness, she leapt forward, pulling out her light saber. Obi-Wan moved at the same time he saw Claire move, but her swiftness caught him off guard. She reached Macer first, but before either Claire or Obi-Wan could do anything, Macer was already pulling out a gun. Obi-Wan saw this, and he let out a cry at the same time a pop sounded, and a light flashed.

"No! Claire!" Obi-Wan yelled, and he saw Claire falling to the ground. But before he could even see what had happened, there was another flash and a pop, and Obi-Wan dodged whatever was shot at him. Suddenly, though, he felt a sharp pain explode in his head and Macer reached around with such speed, and whacked Obi-Wan over the head. Stars exploded in his vision, and before he could even think, Obi-Wan fell to the ground as well, beside the unconscious Claire. Macer looked down at the pair of the Jedi, grimacing.

"Stupid Jedi," he muttered darkly.


	23. Chapter 23

**Chapter 23: Captive**

Lights swam in her vision as Claire tried to open her pain-stricken eyes. She felt strange, as though she had been electrocuted multiple times in a row, then doused in boiling water. Claire slowly shook her head, trying to clear her vision. When she opened her eyes again, she blinked a couple times through the darkness. For a moment, there was only the darkness, until her eyes adjusted to the dim light, picking up the few brighter stray lights that were visible in the room she was in. Claire glanced around her surroundings, taking notice of the rock walls, and the musky smell that lingered, and Claire briefly registered that it was the same smell that hung in the caves that she and Obi-Wan were exploring hours before. Or, what felt like hours before. She had no idea of the time, or how long they had been there. Claire then remembered what had happened— Macer, Anakin, R7, and Obi-Wan— and then Claire realized something else. She heard a faint sound; the sound of breathing that was not her own. Claire tensed up a moment, listening hard. And to her surprise, she recognized the breathing. Obi-Wan? Claire looked around a moment, trying to locate the slowly-breathing Jedi. As Claire twisted around, she realized one more thing as suddenly she found that she could not move as freely as she would have liked— Claire frowned, looking up. She noticed that her arms were above her head, dangling from the ceiling by a pair of rusty, but thick chains attached to the rock ceiling. She looked down as well, seeing her feet simply roped to the floor, the rope being attached to a chain in the opposite wall.

"Lovely," Claire muttered, hearing her voice reverberate against the walls. Glancing around once more as far as she could, Claire saw nothing but pure rock. But maybe there was something behind her. Claire strained to twist herself around again, trying to see behind her. But as she struggled, she found that the chains attached to her arms where too tight, and she couldn't bring herself around to look behind her.

"_Blast_," Claire said again, and she frowned again. She paused, listening to the silence again. She could still hear the breathing, and Claire wondered if it was Obi-Wan or not.

"Kenobi…?" Claire said quietly, and she waited. Nothing. No one made a sound in response. Claire repeated his name again, slightly louder this time.

"Obi-Wan!" Claire hissed again, louder. Finally she heard something stir behind her, and the breathing became irregular.

"Hmm" was all she heard from behind her.

"Obi-Wan, "Claire repeated, now fairly audible. She heard more stirring, and the sound of chains rustling.

"W-what…?" a voice said quietly.

"Obi-Wan, are you okay?" Claire asked.

"Claire..?" Obi-Wan replied, and Claire couldn't help but feel a sense of relief at hearing his voice.

"Yeah, it's me," Claire replied. There was more shuffling, and Claire had the distinct impression that Obi-Wan was checking out his surroundings, and realizing their predicament.

"Oh," Obi-Wan said finally, "well. Look's like we're in a bind."

Claire rolled her eyes heavily, but smiled slightly anyway.

"Yeah, seems so," she replied, "what are you thinking?"

Obi-Wan was quiet a moment, and Claire imagined that he was looking around the room again.

"These chains are quite thick…. If I had my light saber, I could cut through them easily…. And these ropes don't look too sturdy themselves…" Obi-Wan said thoughtfully. Claire looked up again, contemplating the Jedi's words. She then looked down, also wishing she had her light saber.

"I mean, if one of us could at least get free, it would help," Claire muttered. Obi-Wan was silent, obviously trying to think of a plan of escape.

"If there was anything we could use to help free ourselves… something sharp to cut the ropes, or even the chains…" he said quietly. Claire thought about that, when suddenly she got an idea of her own.

"Wait, I do," Claire said swiftly.

"What?" Obi-Wan asked from behind her.

"I have a knife in my boot," Claire said, and she tried twisting herself around again to try and get a glimpse of Obi-Wan behind her.

"Are you sure? They could've taken it, they took our sabers," Obi-Wan replied.

"Believe me, I would know if they took my knife," Claire replied with slight acrimony.

"And how do you expect to get it then?" Obi-Wan replied, with a little animosity in his own voice. Claire rolled her eyes again.

"Look, if we're gonna get out of here," she said, icing her tone harshly to try and show authority, "then we're going to have to work together, got it?"

Obi-Wan was quiet a moment.

"Alright," he said finally, and he dropped his harsh tone. "What do you have in mind?"

Claire thought a moment.

"Well… these ropes are pretty loose down here…" she said, and she looked down at her feet, shaking them slightly, noticing the length of the ropes. Claire tried looking behind herself again.

"Here, wait a moment," she said, and carefully, Claire started backing up. She moved slowly until she hit something— Obi-Wan's own foot.

"Found you," Claire said.

"Okay," Obi-Wan said, and finally Claire could see him when she turned.

"Okay… If I can at least pull myself up high enough for you to grab the knife from my boot—" Claire continued.

"You're forgetting one thing," Obi-Wan suddenly said. Claire stopped. Obi-Wan wordlessly shook the chains attached to his arms.

"I can't exactly use my hands," he said simply. Claire paused before cursing under her breath.

"Is there anyway you can free at least one hand, or somehow grab my knife?" Claire asked, almost feeling stupid for asking. Obi-Wan twisted his hands around in the chains and paused.

"I might actually be able to get my left hand free," he said quietly.

"Try," Claire replied. She waited a moment, listening to the rustling chains. That went on for a few minutes, until it finally stopped and Obi-Wan let out a sigh.

"Alright, got it," he said. Claire almost smiled. He shook his hand roughly— it was stinging painfully from the effort.

"Alright," Claire said. She looked over her shoulder at Obi-Wan, or at least what she could actually see of him.

"Okay, now I'm gonna try and pull myself up," Claire said, contemplating the possible result of her actions, "and you're going to have to grab my boot and get the knife."

"Oh, this should be fun," Obi-Wan said sarcastically. Claire rolled her eyes again.

"Just bear with me, okay?" she said roughly.

"Fine," Obi-Wan replied. Claire shook her head. She then looked up at the chains above her. As much as she could, Claire began wrapping her wrists in the chains, pulling herself off the ground until she could move her feet back.

"Okay, get ready, I can't hold on too long," Claire said. Obi-Wan nodded.

"Ready?" Claire said.

"Okay," Obi-Wan said. Claire took a deep breath, feeling the chains against her arms.

"Oh please let this work," she muttered under her breath to herself. And with that, Claire leapt into the air. She felt the chains tighten against her arms more, and she forced them to wrap time and time again around her arms to keep her elevated. As she did so, she thrust her leg backward toward Obi-Wan, until she felt his grip against her calf.

"Back of the heel," Claire said through her teeth, grimacing tightly through the sudden pain. Obi-Wan held Claire's boot tightly, fumbling with one hand to find the knife. At last he did, and he pulled it out. As he did, he realized that the knife was actually a part of the heel of the boot itself.

"Got it," he said, and he let go of her shoe. Claire let herself down, unwinding her arms from the chains. She felt her arms pulsing painfully, and she grimaced again as she saw ugly red welts forming on both of her arms. But she ignored them. Quickly, Obi-Wan began hacking away at the ropes on his feet, moving swiftly for the sake of time. He also worked on his other chain, at last freeing his right hand from the weak rusty chains, and finally freeing himself from his bonds. Claire waited as patiently as she could, trying to ignore her newfound pain.

"Alright, I'll get your ropes first," Obi-Wan said, and Claire felt him tugging at the ropes on her feet. When she felt them pull off of her boots, Claire sighed in relief. Finally, Obi-Wan stepped around Claire to undo the chains on her wrists. When Claire saw Obi-Wan, she let out another inward sigh, actually glad to see his face. Obi-Wan reached up, pulling on the chains. Every now and then, Claire noticed Obi-Wan's eyes flicker momentarily to Claire's face, but he mostly kept them averted from her. At last, he freed Claire from the chains and Claire let her arms drop to her sides.

"Lord, I never thought that could hurt so badly," Claire said, and she reached down and rubbed her arms gently. Obi-Wan looked at her arms, and Claire sensed pity and concern from him.

"Don't worry about it," Claire said, and she moved her arms out of sight from him, "I'll be fine."

"Here," Obi-Wan said, and he extended his hand toward Claire, the knife in his grasp.

"Thanks," Claire said, and she took the knife. She bent down, inserting the knife back into the heel of her boot.

"Let's get out of here," Obi-Wan finally said when Claire stood back up. Claire looked behind her, and finally saw the exit to the room.

"Are we still on Riaga IV?" Claire asked, looking back at Obi-Wan. He paused, frowning to himself.

"Judging the surroundings, and the familiar musky smell, I would say so," he replied.

"Come on," he added, and he motioned Claire toward the entryway of the room. Claire followed her Jedi companion toward the exit of the room. When they stepped through to the other side, Claire felt a change in the temperature— they must be somewhere near an exit that led outside. Obi-Wan sensed it too.

"This way," he said, dropping his tone to make sure they were not heard. Claire nodded, and they continued on toward the source of warm air. However, as they continued down the long rocky corridor, the temperature began to drop steadily.

"Blast…" Obi-Wan muttered, "I think we're heading farther into the cave…" Claire frowned.

"We'll just have to keep going," she said quietly.

"But we have to get back to the ship," Obi-Wan said, sounding quite worried.

"I know but—" Claire started, but she stopped. She looked over at Obi-Wan, feeling dread welling up inside of her.

"But what about Anakin?" she asked. Obi-Wan's face suddenly became pale as he realized this.

"Oh no…" he said quietly, "they're bound to have taken him… Curse that Macer!"

"Look we'll find him," Claire said, trying to sound reassuring, "we'll jut keep going and see what we can find. I mean, we're bound to come across them, I don't believe they wanted us here for decoration. And I'll be sure to kill Macer myself." Obi-Wan looked back at Claire again, and for the first time he actually felt quite grateful. He nodded slowly.

"So if you don't mind," Claire said, and he stepped past Obi-Wan dominantly, "follow me." She walked past the Jedi, winding her way down through the rocky path. Obi-Wan watched Claire a moment, feeling quite peculiar, before he too followed after the other Jedi, praying that she was right and they would find Macer and the droid army who took Anakin and were keeping them prisoner.


End file.
